


The Vampire Bats of Gotham

by sunsets12



Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU, Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir Bashing, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Alternate Universe - Vampire, Alya Césaire Bashing, Alya Césaire Redemption, Blood Drinking, Blood and Violence, F/M, Lila Rossi Bashing, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, The Batfam are all vampires, vampire mates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-25
Updated: 2020-12-09
Packaged: 2021-02-28 04:41:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 22,333
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22888000
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunsets12/pseuds/sunsets12
Summary: Marinette Dupain-Cheng did not go out of her way to win a class trip to Gotham just to let Lila ruin it for her by talking about how she was best friends with the Waynes and dating the youngest Wayne. No. Marinette was determined to make friends in Gotham to make up for her lack of friends in Paris, especially because she was considering going to Gotham University next year. She just didn't expect for one of the supposed "meanest" kids in her new class to befriend her so quickly. Nor did she expect everything that happened after.
Relationships: Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug/Damian Wayne
Comments: 278
Kudos: 1744





	1. Winning the Trip

**Author's Note:**

> I love this ship and I eventually decided to write a fan fiction for it. The rings that protect the vampires from sunlight is borrowed from the Vampire Diaries, and ozmav on tumblr came up with this ship. I have also seen Lila's nickname for Damian "Damiboo" in various fan fictions and I don't know who came up with it first, but I didn't. Enjoy

Let the records show that Marinette Dupain-Cheng is a great class president. Lila Rossi would not have gone out of her way to enter her class in a competition for a month-long, all-expense paid, study abroad trip to the US, but Marinette did and now her class would be attending Gotham Academy and touring the city for a whole month. It was the dream trip of a lifetime.

The only downside was, of course, how crime filled the city was. The city was well known for its citizens going missing only to show up dead, but Marinette was optimistic and so was the rest of her class. After all, this only seemed to happen during the dark, so as long as the class was safe in their hotel by sundown everything would be fine. Marinette just wished that some of her class would offer her their thanks for putting in so much work to win this trip, but Lila stopped this before it even started.

“Lila, I can’t believe that you know the Waynes personally! Can I interview you for the ladyblog about it?”

“Alya you know I would love to, but I’m supposed to keep this on the down-low, after all I don’t need the paparazzi harassing me for dating Damiboo—oops, I shouldn’t have said that.”

“Oh my God you’re dating Damian Wayne?”

“That’s so cool!”

“Can you introduce us?”

“I don’t know if I can introduce you guys. After all he is super timid and he gets nervous when he meets new people, but I’m so excited for this trip. I’m sure Damiboo will take me to so many different five-star restaurants, and the rest of his family will be so excited to see me too. Bruce Wayne absolutely adores me.”

As the entire class freaked out over Lila supposed boyfriend, Marinette just rolled her eyes. She doubted Lila had ever even been to Gotham, much less meet the Waynes there, but Marinette already knew what would happen if she tried to call Lila out. Besides, unlike a lot of her lies, she had no proof that this one was fake. Just a gut feeling that what Lila had just said was wrong. Like fate herself was repulsed by the idea. She was pulled out of her thoughts by Nino approaching her.

“Hey Marinette, I just wanted to thank you for applying for the study abroad opportunity. Gotham Academy has a really good music program, so I think this will be really good for my DJing career.”

Marinette smiled and was thankful for Nino. So far, he was the only person to acknowledge how much work she had put into applying. “You’re welcome, Nino. They have a really good art program too, so I’m just as excited as you are.”

“Also Marinette, I wanted to apologize for how we’ve been ignoring you lately. Lila has been saying that you’re bullying her, but I don’t believe it. You’re too nice for that. You’ve been my friend for the longest out of anyone in this class, and I didn’t mean to abandon you. We can sit next to each other on the plane ride if you want. Maybe we can play some video games together, so I can improve and beat my brother.”

“I would love that,” Marinette said as she felt her eyes water up. Lila had followed through on her threat off ruining her friendships, most notably her friendship with Alya but it seems that she couldn’t quite get to Nino. She wasn’t as isolated as she thought even though the rest of her class had abandoned her without good reason.

She felt Tikki pat her leg in support, and she felt so grateful. After Adrien had told her that Lila wasn’t hurting anyone and that she should just ignore it, she followed his advice, but he wasn’t right. Lila was hurting her. She lost her crush, her best friend, and the rest of her class all because Lila lied about Marinette bullying her. Her class had known her for years, but they believed Lila’s lies about her in a heartbeat. Some people even started to bully her in return stating that she deserved it. It hurt, but she could feel her heart healing a little as she realized she still had support.

As Ladybug, she had learned to trust her gut, and her gut was telling her that Gotham was going to be a great and life changing experience. Now she just needed to talk to Master Fu about getting a miraculous to transport her from Gotham to Paris and back again for akuma attacks.

Even though her friends had abandoned her, she refused to abandon Paris.

.

“Class, I want to inform you that we will be having exchange students here this week, and I want you all to extend a warm welcome to them. They’re from Paris, so they might not be fluent in English, so have patience. I know some of you are in the French club, so help them along. And don’t forget…”

Damian thought it would be funny to watch the French club try to speak with the Parisians because they were all basically stunted in their year one French class, whereas he was fluent. Outside of that he just hoped none of the Parisians had dark hair, blue eyes, a tragic past and a set of fangs because he did not want his father to adopt another child. Just as he tuned back into class the teacher was saying, “So we’ll have a pep assembly outside to greet them when they come.”

Ugh he just hoped it wasn’t sunny out. Just because his ring stopped him from being burnt by the sun didn’t mean he enjoyed the sunlight. Despite his conscience mind being annoyed at the situation, his inner vampire seemed excited and he felt his fangs drop just a little.

He sat up straighter in his chair, a picture of otherworldly beauty with bright green eyes, a perfectly straight nose despite how many times it had been broken, and teeth that were just a little too sharp to be considered normal.

Damian wasn’t normal.

.

Marinette was tired and stressing—not a good combination. She had just gotten back home from fighting an akuma for five hours straight. The akuma was a teenage girl who had just been cheated on by her boyfriend, and her powers were to break others’ hearts and steal all of their emotions. Chat Noir had been hit by the akuma and completely left the fight because he simply didn’t care anymore. After all, the only reason he showed up to fights in the first place was to flirt with Ladybug. As bad as it is to say, this battle was the least irritating Chat Noir had been in the past year because he simply wasn’t there to bother her. Time and time again Chat Noir would hit on her and attempt to get her to agree to a date, but she did not like him like that. Every time he kissed her hand or made a pass at her, something twisted in her gut and she just wanted to get away, but he wouldn’t take no for an answer. It was starting to get in the way of the akuma battles, and Marinette was starting to wonder if she was better off without Chat Noir. He certainly hadn’t helped today at all even before he was hit.

Which now lead to Marinette’s predicament. It was 1:00 AM the night before her class was flying out to Gotham, and she wasn’t packed at all. Moving like a zombie, she was putting things into her suitcase, sure that she would end up forgetting something.

“Marinette, I think that you should take Chat’s miraculous away, and I think you should do it tonight before you leave for Gotham,” Tikki interrupted Marinette.

“I know that he hasn’t been the best partner recently, but do you really think that I should do something that final? I mean, what if he gets akumatized? I don’t know if I could fight off an akumatized Chat, and I don’t even know who he is.”

“Marinette, Chat isn’t the true holder of the cat miraculous for this generation. He was only meant to be temporary, but because you are the true holder of the ladybug miraculous, I’m confident you can fight him off. He has not been professional, and he has been endangering Paris with his foolishness. As for the second part of your problem…”

“Wait, Tikki, you know who Chat Noir is?”

“Yes,” said Tikki shakenly, “He’s Adrien Agreste.” Marinette was not nearly as surprised as she should have been. Adrien and Chat Noir both displayed the same kind of irresponsibility and unwillingness to do what is actually right in favor of what is easier. Adrien wouldn’t stand up to Lila just because he didn’t want to fight off her akumatized form. Chat Noir only showed up to fights to attempt to land a date with Ladybug. Chat wasn’t a hero in his miraculous form or as a civilian.

“If he is Adrien, he is going to Gotham with the class. I’ll take his miraculous then, so he has time to calm down before he comes back to Paris. Hopefully, he won’t be akumatized. I don’t want to fight him. I know he hasn’t been a good person, but he was still my first crush.”

“That’s a good idea, Marinette. I’ll support you no matter what you decide, but just be aware that Chat was never meant to be permanent, so it’s not your fault that you have to take his miraculous away.”

“Yeah, I understand. I think I need to get back to packing right know though. After all, I’m already going to be exhausted in the morning.” Looking again at her clock Marinette saw it was now 1:23, and she had to get up at 5:00 AM. She hoped she wouldn’t oversleep.

Luckily for Marinette, her parents did not let her oversleep that morning, and she arrived on time to the airport. Lila had secured a seat in between Alya and Adrien, and Marinette found it suspicious how Lila attached herself to Adrien despite the fact that she was supposedly dating Damian Wayne. Marinette still had no idea how no one in her class noticed anything off in Lila’s lies. They weren’t even good.

Marinette settled herself in a window seat and prepared herself to spend the whole flight asleep, but she was pleasantly surprised when Nino kept his promise to sit next to her on the plane and plopped himself down while saying, “Hey dudette.”

“Hey Nino,” Marinette smiled, “Do you know if they have video games on these airplane screens? And if so do you want to play some?”

Nino agreed and for the whole flight it felt as if nothing at all had changed and they were still best friends in their pre-teens.

But things had changed, which Lila soon made known.

“Alya, is that your boyfriend sitting next to Marinette? You should keep Nino away from her. She’s not the type of person to be afraid of being a homewrecker, and she’s definitely not as pure as she looks.”

“Wow, girl, what have you heard?”

“Oh, just some things in the hallway and some of my guy friends were talking about it.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure to take your advice. I can’t believe that I used to be friends with her. She’s such an awful person and I can’t believe that she hid it so well for so long.”

“Some people are just good liars.”

“There’s nothing good about her. She just sucks the life out of the people around her.”

Ladybug was a hero to all of Paris, but Marinette was being painted as the villain. Life wasn’t fair, and Marinette had learned that when Lila first joined her class. That was why she was able to hold back her tears when she overheard what her former best friend was saying about her. Marinette was glad that they had already left Paris, so she didn’t have to worry about being akumatized. The akumas were getting harder for her to fight off mentally, but she would manage. She’s Ladybug, after all. But Chat Noir had abandoned her, and he wasn’t helping her anymore. She felt alone even with Nino by her side and Tikki in her purse. She wanted a partner—someone who would truly care about her. She would accept their flaws and they would accept hers.

She didn’t feel much like an everyday Ladybug anymore because she couldn’t even stick up for herself against a bully. She needed someone to bring her out of her toxic situation and bring back her happiness.

Meanwhile in America, Damian needed someone to pull him out of his darkness, and self-imposed isolation. He just didn’t know it yet.

He soon would. They both would.

Fate had already decided it.


	2. Just Another Day in Marinette's Life

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, this chapter takes care of the obligatory "Marinette gets left behind by her class in the most dangerous city in America" trope that this pairing has. Enjoy. Also, Marinette encounters her first vampire.

Ms. Bustier had to be one of the most irresponsible teachers to ever exist. Marinette had gone to the bathroom for three minutes, and when she came out, her class was nowhere to be seen. Marinette approached an airport worker for help.

“Excuse me, sir, my class was here earlier. Did you happen to see where they went?”

“The French class? I’m sorry, but they have already left,” he looked at her in pity. “We have taxis you can take if you know where they were going.”

“Thank you, monsieur. Where are the taxis?” Marinette felt uncomfortable. The worker was staring at her like he couldn’t believe her class had left her behind. Years ago, Marinette would have felt the same way, but nothing her class did could surprise her now. (Except maybe including her in their plans and being good people.)

Marinette slinked off in the direction the worker had pointed to, thankful at least that she was fluent in English. Otherwise she would have never been able to ask for help. While she was caught up in her own thoughts, she wasn’t aware of her surroundings, and she entered the first taxi she saw. It had strongly tinted windows that made it almost impossible for sunlight to come into the car. She wondered how the driver could see through them.

“The Wayne Hotel, please.”

The driver, a middle-aged man with a balding head looked back at her. “You’re French, ay? I guess it’s true when they talk about French beauty.”

Perhaps Marinette should have felt flattered, but instead she felt queasy. Something was off about the taxi driver, but they were already out of the airport and on the highway.

The driver wasn’t done talking yet. “Did you travel to Gotham on your own?”

“No, I came with my parents. They’re waiting for me at the hotel.” Marinette needed to get out of this situation. “My parents are really cool. They’re part of the French military.”

“Hm.” He didn’t look like he believed her. Off to the side, Marinette saw the hotel, but the driver didn’t stop. Alarm bells were going off in Marinette’s head.

“The hotel was just over there. I think you passed it.”

“No, I’m just taking a different route to get there,” he smiled at her, showing his teeth.

Not good. Marinette looked at all of her surroundings to try and come up with an escape, when the taxi stopped all of a sudden. The highway was backed up, and all of the cars on it had come to a complete stop. ‘Thank God for big city traffic,’ Marinette thought as she hooked her arm around her luggage and threw on her backpack. As subtly as she could, she reached for the door handle. It wasn’t subtle enough.

“Hey, girlie, what the hell are you doing?” The driver had reached his arm back and grabbed her wrist. He had an unnaturally strong grip. With all of her strength Marinette threw open the car door and shoved his arm against the side of the car. Marinette heard a sharp crack and a loud scream, but she didn’t stick around any longer and instead sprinted into the street between the stopped cars.

Unfortunately, Marinette had no idea where she was. Her wrist was bruised from where she had been manhandled. She had been walking for two hours now, and it was almost dark. She still could not even see the hotel, even with how large the building was. She was starting to get worried because she did not want a repeat of what happened in the taxi, so she tried her hardest to stick to the street lights.

Even with how scared she was she couldn’t help but notice how bright the street lights were. During her research of Gotham city, she learned that the lights were specifically designed to mimic sunlight to offset how dark the city always seemed to be. Right now, she appreciated it, but it wasn’t long before she ran out of street lamps to walk under. Almost immediately after stepping into the darkness, she heard footsteps behind her, and she sped up to get to the next light.

The person following her sped up too, and Marinette felt a hand grip her shoulder—just as strong as the taxi drivers’ grip on her wrist had been.

Marinette felt herself shaking as she turned around and punched the guy following her in the throat, and—you had to be kidding her—it was taxi guy.

He barely even reacted to her punch, even though Marinette knew it had to have hurt. Instead, he sunk his fingernails into Marinette’s arms to keep her from running away, and Marinette closed her eyes and was ready to start screaming until someone ripped her attacker from her.

Too shocked to open her eyes, Marinette heard hissing and the sound of flesh being torn. She opened her eyes and was greeted to a horrific site. The man’s heart had been ripped out by a woman in a skintight cat suit. Marinette was about ready to run again until two other women came out of the shadows to stop her from escaping.

“Sweetheart, surely you know it isn’t safe to be wondering the streets of Gotham alone at night,” said a woman with pigtails.

“If Catwoman hadn’t been here to save you, you would have died. You need to be more careful,” the woman in green chastised.

While Marinette crafted her response, she made a point to not look at the body lying on the street not even ten feet away from her. “I know. I didn’t mean to. My class left me behind at the airport, so I took a taxi, but the driver was trying to abduct me. I just want to go to my hotel and go to bed, so I’m ready for the rest of the trip.” The three women looked at each other when they heard Marinette’s French accent and realized that she wasn’t a local.

“We can take you to your hotel if you want darling, which one are you staying at?”

“The Wayne Hotel.”

“By the way, I’m Harley Quinn. The other two are Poison Ivy and Catwoman.”

“It’s nice to meet you guys, and I really appreciate your help.” She would have appreciated it just a bit more if she hadn’t seen a man be murdered, but she recognized the names of the women. They were criminals, so she was just thankful that they hadn’t killed her as well.

\-------

“Well Tikki, I guess people aren’t exaggerating when they say how dangerous Gotham is. I’m just glad we’re back in the hotel safe and sound. Now I can finally go to bed.”  
  


“Marinette, are you forgetting something?”

“Hm?” asked Marinette, already half asleep.

“You need to take Chat Noir’s miraculous away tonight like you said you would before we left Paris. Besides, it’s the perfect time right now. Everyone is asleep except for you and me.”

Marinette stared at the ceiling.

“Tikki, are we sure that this is the right thing to do? Once it’s done, it’s done.”

“Marinette don’t psych yourself out of this. You decided to do it, so do it.”

Why did her Kwami always have to be right?

“Tikki, spots on.”

\------

It was disturbingly easy to get into the hotel windows, especially because Adrien left his window unlocked. Marinette had to roll her eyes. No one in her class took her warning of how dangerous Gotham was seriously. Oh well, it made her job easier.

As she crept through the room, she saw Plagg. He held his paw up to his mouth signaling to be quiet, and he floated over to her.

“He’s not exactly a light sleeper, but we don’t want to take chances,” Plagg whispered. “He sleeps in the ring.”

Great.

As quietly as she could, Marinette approached the bed and reached for Adrien’s finger. He turned over and Marinette had to stop herself from gasping.

He was still asleep. She let out her breath and reached again for the ring.

This time she grabbed and managed to slide it off his finger without problems and left again through the window.

“Sorry Adrien,” she whispered, “but it’s for the best.”

Chat Noir was officially retired.

\-----

The next morning was chaos. The class had never seen Adrien angry before, but he was livid now. He yelled at anyone who came near him. His classmates didn’t understand why he was so upset about a missing ring, but Marinette did. Luckily, they hadn’t talked in a long time, and Marinette had no reason to talk to him now. Instead, she let him take out his anger on Lila and the rest of the class.

Revenge was sweet. Especially when she didn’t have to worry about any of them being akumatized.

“Adrien,” said Ms. Bustier, “We’re running late for the museum today. We can look for your ring when we get back.”

“NO! You don’t understand. That ring means everything to me. We can’t leave without it.” His voice cracked, and Marinette had to remind herself to breath.

Marinette had kept the ring on her necklace hidden under her shirt, and as she listened to Adrien talk about how the ring was so important to him, she felt it burn.

\---------

“Welcome to the Gotham museum! We have some of the most famous pieces of artwork housed her as well as some of the most important history for the United States. My name is Lara, and I’ll be your tour guide for today. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me.”

“This museum was founded by the generous donations of the Wayne family—”

“Oh, that’s right--Damiboo was telling me all about how his family started this museum and how I would love it. He wanted to take me here on a date originally, but I had to turn him down because we were all going to come here together.”

“Lila that’s so cool! You should have asked him to come today, so he could show us around. We all need to meet him,” Alya exclaimed.

“Yeah it would be so great to hear a Gotham native explain the history.” At this the tour guide adopted a very offended look.

“Well it certainly is lucky that I’m a Gotham native then, now isn’t it? I don’t appreciate interruptions. Back to the tour.”

But the rest of the class was too busy asking Lila questions about the Waynes and Gotham in general, so Marinette and Nino ended up being the only two people listening to the guide.

Ms. Bustier didn’t even say anything about her class being disrespectful to Lara, but at this point, Marinette didn’t know what else to expect from her teacher. She had already been let down so much by her.

Despite how rude Marinette’s classmates were being, Lara was trying her hardest to ignore it and continue talking about the museum exhibits. Marinette respected her for that. She had tried to do the same thing in the beginning, but now she found it hard to talk to her classmates when she knew none of them would listen.

Lara guided the class into an exhibit room full of different vintage weapons. There were swords hanging on the walls, crossbows encased in glass, and old guns with silver bullets behind a gate.

“And here we have what tends to be our visitor’s favorite exhibit in the museum. I don’t know how big American history is outside of the US, but have you all heard of the Salem Witch Trials before?” This caught the attention of the class, and even Lila stopped talking to listen to the tour guide. “Well, something similar happened here in Gotham. When this town was first being settled, the colonials became paranoid that there were demons among them. The story goes that the Governor was a cruel man who manipulated those around him, so his wife begged God for a way to be rid of him. She was a holy woman, but she had started to lose faith when God didn’t answer her prayers for freedom from her husband. She turned to the devil instead.” Lara stopped to let the class stew on what she said. “He answered, and she turned into a creature of the night. She couldn’t go out into the sun for the sun was a gift from God and she was no longer in God’s graces, but she got what she wanted.”

“She got rid of her husband?” Rose asked shakily, clinging to Juleka.

“Exactly. He was found in the middle of the woods with his blood drained from him. The townspeople feared that this had only started the bloodthirst of the wife who sold her soul to the Devil, so they began to develop weapons that were holy and strong enough to kill her should she come for them next. This was the first instance of vampiric myths in America.”

“Well, what happened next?”

“That’s where the story starts to branch off into different versions. Some say that she died along with her husband because her wish was fulfilled. Others say that she turned everyone who came after her into a vampire as well. No one really knows, but the townspeople certainly were terrified. Every time someone was killed, they would dig up various graves and steak the body in the heart to make sure that the person stayed dead. Of course, those murders were done by people who knew the story and used it to convince the courts that it was something not human, so they could get away with their crime. Unfortunately, it worked quite well for a while, and a lot of murderers walked free, while innocents had their hearts cut out. Don’t worry, though, our courts don’t believe in vampires anymore,” she laughed.

Marinette wondered what kind of life a person had to live in order for their first thought when solving a murder was that a vampire did it.

Weird times.

\-------

It was in the museum gift shop that Marinette overheard Lila talking to Ms. Bustier.

“Ms. Bustier, I just can’t believe how disruptive Marinette was being to our museum guide. I was trying so hard to listen to her, but Marinette wouldn’t stop disrupting her. I don’t think she is responsible enough to be trusted alone in Gotham’s shopping center. After all, Gotham is such a dangerous city.”

“Lila, I’m so glad that you told me this. I have been noticing recently how Marinette hasn’t been respecting authority as she should be. She’s always late to class and sometimes she just ditches completely. I’ll talk to her.” Just then Ms. Bustier looked over and saw Marinette looking at her, so she walked towards her.

“I’ve been hearing some not-so-flattering things about your behavior today.”

“Ms. Bustier, Lila was lying. I didn’t interrupt the guide at all.”

“I don’t want to hear it, Marinette! When we leave the hotel this afternoon to go shopping, you will stay behind. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Ms. Bustier,” Marinette mumbled. One of the parts of this trip she had most looked forward to was seeing Gotham fashion and going shopping in America. It wasn’t fair. What made Ms. Bustier trust Lila’s words over her own? It was a classic case of he-said-she-said. As Marinette was zoned out, she realized she was looking at a painting of a robin, a cute little red bird that she quite liked, and Marinette made the decision that she would not be staying at the hotel that afternoon no matter what Ms. Bustier said.

\----

Marinette couldn’t go to Gotham’s most famous shopping center unless she wanted to be caught by her class, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t leave the hotel at all. As a matter of fact, there was a tattoo parlor right across the street.

Marinette had wanted to change her look ever since her class turned on her, but it wasn’t until that morning in the museum that she realized she wanted a tattoo, and as she looked at the work the tattoo artist had done, Marinette was breathless.

“I love it.”

“Glad to hear it. It certainly was fun to do.”

When Marinette returned back to the hotel, she pulled her sleeve down to look at the new tattoo on her collar bone, and she was calmed by the picture.

A robin with a ladybug on its back. It felt right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are much appreciated!


	3. We Have Chemistry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette and Damian finally meet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, when I first wrote this chapter, it seemed really awkward to me, and the comments helped me figure out why. So I took your recommendations and rewrote this chapter. Special thanks to the commenters who helped me understand where this chapter could be improved.
> 
> This chapter is edited.

Damian was restless, and he couldn’t figure out why. He could feel his vampire instincts crawling up his throat, fighting for freedom, and he couldn’t push it down. He had already drunk three different blood bags within a span of 24 hours, and he was honestly a little worried about going to school and being surrounded by people who didn’t stand a chance against him if he lost control.

He could hurt someone and out his whole family as vampires, which would start a manhunt.

While the villains in Gotham might deserve to be hunted down, his family didn’t.

But his father and Alfred wouldn’t let him stay home because he didn’t want to explain the reason for not going to school, so he went anyway and told Jon to keep an eye on him.

Control. He had control in spades, and he could go to school today without any problems.

\-------

Marinette had never been this excited before. Today would kick off their class’s three weeks of studying at Gotham Academy, which had one of the best high school art programs internationally.

She was even more excited because all of the French students had to be split up into different classes, and she didn’t have any classes with Lila. She would finally get some peace and quiet.

It was a miracle.

“Yeah, Damiboo took me to this five-star restaurant last night, and the food was absolutely divine. It was so romantic. Then afterwards we stopped at this bakery, and he bought me the best macarons I’ve ever tasted. They were way better than Marinette’s parents’ macarons—Oops, no offense Marinette.”

Despite how hard Lila was trying to get under Marinette’s skin, she was too thrilled to fall for Lila’s bait. She could make friends in Gotham without Lila ruining it. She wouldn’t feel so isolated anymore.

With that thought in mind, Marinette exited the bus and went to the office to find the student who was assigned to guide her.

\---------

“Are you Marinette Dupain-Cheng?”

“Yeah, that’s me.” Marinette responded, studying the guy. He had bright blue eyes, black hair, and a bright smile.

“My name’s Jon Kent, and I’m going to be your guide while you’re at Gotham Academy. Our first class today is Chemistry. Do you like science?” Jon asked looking over at Marinette. He noticed she was awfully short and tiny, but she had some muscles hidden under the school uniform.

“Not particularly, no. I’m much more interested in Literature and Art.”

“Ah, well I have 3D art today and photography tomorrow, and we have an art club if you want to join,” Jon smiled at her.

“I would love to! I’m really interested in fashion design, and I hope to go into it for a career. What do you like to do?”

“I like to spend time with my friends and volunteer to help people. I also really like to fly,” at this Jon seemed to smirk like he was sharing a secret.

“Really? Do you have a pilot’s license?”

“Practically, yeah. Also, fair warning that most people don’t like the Chemistry teacher. He tends to be a little aggressive, so just make sure you pay attention in class.”

“Yeah, I have a physics teacher like that in Paris—” They stopped outside the Chemistry door, and Marinette’s gut started to churn from anxiousness. It was now or never. The class all turned to look at her.

“Mr. Brown, I have a new student shadowing me today from Paris. Her name is…”

Marinette was not paying attention to what Jon was saying. Instead, she was staring at a guy in the very back row with black hair and green eyes.

He was staring back.

\-------

‘Mate.’ Was Damian’s one thought when he saw the beautiful new girl, and suddenly why he had been so on edge for the past week made sense.

He was staring at her, and she was staring, too. He barely even caught what Jon was saying, “…Her name is Marinette Dupain-Cheng.”

“Well, Marinette would you like to say an interesting fact about yourself?” The teacher asked.

“Huh?” Marinette replied breaking eye contact with Damian. He noticed she had a French accent, which made him realize she was one of the foreign exchange students. “Oh, well I’m really interested in, um, design,” she stuttered. Marinette found it hard to concentrate when she could feel the cute boy’s eyes on her from the back of the class. She always had been a disaster around attractive people.

“Does anyone have any questions for Marinette?” The teacher asked.

Multiple people in the class raised their hands, and the teacher called on a tall redhead girl who asked, “What is your favorite thing about France?”

Marinette could hardly think with so many people watching her, “I would say that I really like, um, the people, I guess.” Please don’t call on anyone else. The teacher—evidently—didn’t hear her mental plea, and after suffering through multiple other questions, Marinette was finally set free from the front of the classroom.

“Come on, Marinette, I usually sit by Damian in this class.” As Jon guided her back to where they were going to sit, Marinette realized that Damian was, in fact, the cute boy in the back. There was no way Marinette was going to be able to focus in this class.

And to think she used to believe Adrien was the most attractive person ever. She kept sneaking glances over to Damian because she found it impossible to ignore him, and he was doing the same.

Mentally, Damian was freaking out. He had no idea what he was supposed to do—he wasn’t good with emotions, but he wanted to get to know his mate. This was the girl who he was destined to spend his whole life with. Well, he decided. There was only one thing to do.

Jon, who was sitting in between the two of them, seemed very uncomfortable and confused. This confusion only increased when he saw Damian write a note and pass it to Marinette. Damian was not the kind of person to write notes in class.

The note had his phone number on it, and the word, ‘Date?’

What was happening? Damian had never been interested in anyone before, much less a person he had just met, but Marinette seemed happy as she smiled and nodded to Damian.

His best friend just got a date. What was the world coming to?

Oh well, he would interrogate him at lunch.

\------

Marinette did not believe in love at first sight, especially since her crush on Adrien went down in flames. But if it did exist, Marinette was sure she had just experienced it in an American Chemistry class.

“Hey Jon, I’m sure I can lead Marinette around for today. After all, I’m fluent in French, and I’d really like the opportunity to practice it with a native speaker.”

Staring at Damian like he had just grown an extra head, Jon said, “Yeah, ok, I’ll just tell the office that Marinette’s following you for today. I’ll see you at lunch.”

“By the way, I’m Damian,” The cute boy said as he turned to her.

“Marinette, but I think you already knew that from my introduction in Chemistry class.”

“Well it’s great to officially meet you Marinette.”

“It’s great to meet you too, Damian.”

\-----

Damian smiled the whole time he was talking to Marinette on their way to English class, and the people in the hallway were stopping and staring, wondering since when the ice prince was even able to smile.

Marinette felt alive the whole time she was talking to Damian. That was until she realized that she now had to follow a different schedule—one that apparently shared an English class with Lila and Alya. She prayed that Damian wouldn’t believe any of Lila’ lies. She really liked him, and she was even more scared of losing him than she had been scared of losing Alya.

Lila wouldn’t win—not this time.

When they walked in the class, Marinette saw a middle-aged man sitting at his desk. He stood up when the bell rang, and said, “Now class we have two new students from France in here today named Lila Rossi and Alya Césaire—”

“Actually, Mr. Lancer, one of the French students is following me around today.”

“Pride and Prejudice! Damian, I didn’t take you for the type of person to let a student shadow you.” Damian glared and before an argument could break out, Marinette interrupted.

“He volunteered to let me shadow him during last block. My name is Marinette Dupain-Cheng, and it’s nice to meet you, Mr. Lancer.” Damian turned to Marinette and smile.

Mr. Lancer did not seem to be the only person surprised by what Damian had done because the whole class was in various stages of shock. One guy even dropped his jaw as he stared at the two students.

Mr. Lancer was one of the first to regain his senses, “Well, that’s awfully nice and unexpected of him. Now have any of you read _Frankenstein_ before?”

\-----

Word spread fast that Damian Wayne was acting… _weird_. It was well known that he didn’t do friends—except for Jon, but he had quickly taken up to one of the French students.

Patty didn’t like this. She had had a crush on Damian ever since she had started Gotham Academy her freshman year, but she had given up because no one ever seemed to get anywhere with Damian. Now, as a senior, some foreign exchange student managed to get on his good side within one day? How?

‘Maybe,’ a small part of her thought, ‘he is warming up to people in general. You should talk to him. Ask him out.’

Well, it was her last year at this school before she would go to Metropolis for college. What did she have to lose? She told her best friends as much, but they were still hesitant.

“Patty, I know that he’s hot and everything, but he still seems pretty mean. I don’t think you should do it. Maybe he already knew the French girl before she came today. After all, wasn’t he born outside of the United States or something?”

“I agree with Sarah, Patty. I really don’t think this is a good idea,” but Patty was nothing if not stubborn. She knew she would regret this for the rest of the year—and possibly the rest of her life—if she didn’t do it while she still had the chance.

\----

“Hey Marinette! Do you mind if I borrow Damian for a little bit to talk to him?” Jon asked.

Marinette blinked, “Oh, yeah of course I need to go to the bathroom, anyway. Can I sit with you guys at lunch?”

“Of course. We usually sit at the table closest to the emergency exit.” Damian replied, smiling softly before being dragged off by Jon.

“So, what’s up with you and Marinette?” Jon whispered.

“She’s my mate.” Damian replied, still staring at where Marinette had been a moment ago.

“Oh my God, dude, that’s great! I can’t believe that you met your mate when you’re still so young by… you know ‘bat’ standards.”

Damian exhaled, looking exhausted and excited all at once. “I know. It was quite the shock to me, too. I haven’t told father yet, and I’m not sure if I want to.”

Jon stared at him. “Of course, you want to! They all are going to be so happy for you! The youngest of the coven, but the first to find his mate. Do you know where you are going to take her for the date?”

“Not really. I’m not one for romance.”

“You should take her to the gardens. They’re really pretty this time of year, and she really likes art, so I’m sure she would appreciate the view.”

Damian had to push down his annoyance at how much Jon seemed to know about Marinette. He had to remember that Jon was his friend and that he wouldn’t try to take Marinette away from him. His inner vampire was not quite convinced in all of his stupid possessiveness, but Damian was better than his instincts.

Instead, Damian hummed in thought and said, “That’s a pretty good idea. I think I’ll try to take her there after school today. Do you think—”

Damian was interrupted by the art club president, Patty Jones, approaching them. “Hi Jon. Hi Damian. I heard that you guys were volunteering to let some of the exchange students shadow you. How is that going?”

“Well, Damian volunteered to let Marinette shadow him because he wanted to practice his French, so I don’t have a student shadowing me anymore. They all seem really nice, though.”

“Really? Damian, I didn’t know that you spoke French. I’m trying to learn it, but I haven’t had much luck. Do you think you would be able to help me with it? Maybe after school today?”

“No, I have a date after school today.” Damian answered briskly.

Jon, seeing how sad Patty became, said, “If you really want to improve your French skills, you could ask the office to have one of the students follow you. There’s no better way to learn a language than to talk with a native speaker.”

Patty’s shoulders hung, “Yeah, Jon. You’re right.” She walked away, and Damian and Jon headed to the lunch room.

“I see getting a mate hasn’t made you any less socially awkward,” Jon laughed. “You could have offered to help her with French another time.”

“She was just using it as an excuse to hang out with me. I needed to end that thought before it started.” Damian realized what had brought it on. The school saw how soft he was being with Marinette and they thought that he would start being nice to everyone. They were wrong. He would start being nice to them when they stopped being stupid.

As Damian walked into the lunch room, he saw Marinette sitting at the table, and he started to walk over to her.

Then he noticed a blond boy sit down in his spot next to Marinette.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this chapter was really short, but I thought this was a good place to end it. And, yes, Mr. Lancer is the Mr. Lancer from Danny Phantom. 
> 
> Anyway this chapter just felt really awkward to me, so I would really appreciate your thoughts on it (especially the dialogue!)


	4. Broken Fingers and First Dates

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Damian's a little protective.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I edited the last chapter and added a couple of scenes so if you're confused that's probably why.

The blond boy grabbed Marinette’s arm, and she tried unsuccessfully to pull away.

“Marinette, you’re our Everyday Ladybug because you always help people. Now, I need you to help me. My ring went missing, and I _need_ it back. Help me look for it.” Adrien said with a crazed look in his eye.

“Adrien, I don’t even know what your ring looks like. I wouldn’t be any help.” Marinette responded still trying to yank her arm out of his grip.

“Look,” Adrien whispered lowly in French, “If you help me find it, we can blame Lila for it going missing. Then the whole class will turn against her, and they’ll be your friends again.” Marinette couldn’t believe what she was hearing, and she stopped struggling momentarily. She really looked at Adrien for the first time in a long time. His hair was messy, eyes rimmed red, and his lip was bleeding from how much he must have bit it. Losing Chat Noir had caused him to lose any semblance of the happy-go-lucky boy she had met all those years ago, and he was now willing to blame someone for something they hadn’t done just to manipulate Marinette into helping him.

She vaguely wondered what Adrien would do if he ever discovered that it was her who took his ring. She felt Plagg and Tikki cuddle against her leg through her purse offering comfort, but the ring around her necklace was burning with guilt.

“Adrien, I’m sorry, but I won’t help you. You’ve been nothing but selfish and rude to me these past few years. Now let me go.” Marinette said in a firm voice. After years of being Ladybug, she had mastered the art putting on a brave face, even when she didn’t feel brave.

“You’re being selfish. I need you to help me with this.”

“I don’t think you have the right to demand anything of Marinette. You should probably go sit next to the rest of your class now,” a teenager who Adrien had never met before said in fluent French. He could feel the anger rolling off of the stranger in waves, but he wasn’t going to back down. Adrien suspected that someone from the class had taken his ring, and Marinette was the only one who he trusted to not be the culprit. He had to get her to help him.

“No offense, but this is between my classmate and me. We don’t even know who you are,” Adrien said tightening his hand around Marinette’s arm.

“Actually, Adrien, this is Damian. I was going to sit with him at lunch today. I think you should go sit next to Lila’s group. Don’t you?”

“Marinette, I’m not dropping this conversation that easily.” He yanked her arm, pulling her up.

That was it. Damian lost his temper and grabbed Adrien’s hand off of Marinette’s arm.

\----

“The nurse says that he has three broken fingers,” Marinette said plopping down next to Damian on the hard-wooden bench outside the principal’s office. “You didn’t need to defend me like that. I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself,” Marinette paused, “but thank you. He was starting to scare me. I’ve never seen him get that… riled up before.”

“You don’t need to thank me. He was being a creep. I did what anyone else would have done.”

Marinette laughed, “I don’t think anyone else would have been able to break three fingers just by grabbing a guys hand. What, do you workout?”

“I do, actually.” Damian replied in a sheepish voice.

It was official. Marinette was in love.

‘We could be one of those cute couples who work out together,’ Marinette thought, ‘I wonder if he likes hamsters.’

At least she didn’t have to go back to English class with Lila and Alya today.

\----

It wasn’t long until the principal called Bruce Wayne to discuss Damian’s punishment, and Damian pulled his father aside.

“I met my mate today, and the guy who I got in a fight with was harassing her. I know you don’t want me to take out my anger on the… _humans_ , but I didn’t have a choice,” Damian huffed, while Bruce stood there trying to digest what Damian had just said. His son had met his soulmate—and he probably wouldn’t have even told him if not for the fight. Despite his original disappointment in his son’s behavior, he couldn’t help but feel proud of Damian. After all, while Bruce had not yet met his own soulmate, he understood the protective instincts that came along with meeting one’s mate. With this in mind, Bruce walked into the principal’s office ready to defend his son—and by extension—his son’s mate.

“Mr. Wayne,” Principal Hathorne began, “young Damian here broke a boy’s fingers today during lunch. I have already talked to the other boy, and he says that he was talking to one of his classmates from Paris when Damian walked up and started to yell at him. It didn’t stop with verbal threats, however, because then Damian grabbed and crushed the boy’s hand. Damian, what do you have to say for yourself?” The principal looked to Damian.

“I volunteered to let Marinette Dupain-Cheng—one of the French students—follow me, which included sitting with Jon and I at lunch. When Jon and I walked into the cafeteria, we saw one of her classmates harassing her. He had an uncomfortably tight grip on her arm, and she asked him to let go of her, but he didn’t.” He stopped to catch his breath, hands clenched around his chair. He didn’t need to lose his temper again in front of the principal. The last thing he wanted was to be expelled when Marinette was still going to be attending Gotham Academy. “You can ask Jon what happened.”

“Well, how about we invite Ms. Dupain-Cheng into here to ask for her side of the story,” he got up from his oak desk and walked over to the receptionist. It wasn’t long before Marinette opened the door and walked inside the office, standing awkwardly off to the side because there were only two seats in front of the principal’s desk.

Damian got up to offer her his spot. “Thanks Damian,” Marinette mumbled, moving over to the seat.

“Ms. Dupain-Cheng,” the principal began, “I have heard two vastly different sides of what happened in the cafeteria during lunch today. I would like to hear your side.”

Marinette sat up straighter and took a deep breath. “I was going to sit with Damian during lunch today, so I sat at the table he told me he normally eats at, but then Adrien Agreste—one of my classmates from France—sat down next to me. He recently lost a ring that was evidently very important to him, and he thought that someone in our class had stolen it. He asked me to help him find it, but we aren’t the best of friends—” at this Damian scoffed, “so I told him that I wouldn’t help him look for it. He got really angry and he grabbed my arm and wouldn’t let go. I asked him to leave me alone, but he wouldn’t. That was when Damian intervened.”

Marinette continued, “Please don’t blame Damian. He was trying to help me, and I’m really glad he intervened when he did because I don’t know what Adrien would have done if Damian hadn’t stuck up for me.” She rolled up her sleeve. “I have a bruise from where Adrien’s hand was.”

At this Marinette noticed how both Damian and his father looked furious, and even the principal looked shocked.

“I’m sorry, Ms. Dupain-Cheng. I had no idea that Mr. Agreste was being violent towards you. We’ll get this straightened out. For now, I believe that you can go back to class while I talk with Damian and his father.”

As Marinette got up to leave, Damian stood up, too. “Right now, Jon is in 3D art with Mrs. Rolling. It’s on the third floor. How about we meet up after school in front of the building.” Marinette blushed and nodded her head, still not quite able to believe how such an attractive and nice guy had asked her out.

As Marinette left the room, the principal sighed, “Damian, while you were protecting your friend, this school still has a no tolerance towards violence. You’ll have to go to Saturday detention this weekend.”

“And what will the other boy be getting?” Bruce asked.

“Well, seeing as he is an exchange student there is not much we can do, but I plan to inform his teacher and have him excluded from some of the activities his class has planned in Gotham. If the teacher refuses to punish him, then he will serve multiple detentions at Gotham Acadmey.”

“Thank you, Principal Hathorne. If that is all, I’ll be headed back to work now, and Damian, good luck on your date tonight.” Bruce winked.

\----

After school had ended for the day, Damian took Marinette to the Gotham City gardens like Jon had recommended. Marinette immediately gravitated towards the lilies, and she thought that they were by far the most beautiful thing in the garden. Damian, on the other hand, thought Marinette was the most beautiful thing in the garden.

His brothers thought the cutest thing in the garden was the couple themselves.

Because no matter how hard Damian had tried to hide that he had found his mate from his brothers—and even more so where he was taking his mate on their first date—he came from a family of detectives who were determined to spy on their little brother who found his soulmate before any of them had—even before their father had!

“Oh my God, that’s the cutest thing I’ve ever seen,” Dick shrieked.

“Dick what’s happening?” Tim asked.

“They’re holding hands!”

“Dick, don’t hog the binoculars,” Jason wrestled them from Dick’s hands and spied on the two lovebirds himself. “They really are holding hands. I get that they’re mates and everything, but I’m still surprised that demon spawn hasn’t scared her off yet. He’s scared every other girl off--”

Jason was interrupted by Damian making eye contact with him from where he and Marinette were sitting on the edge of the fountain.

“Abandon ship! He saw us. I repeat; abandon ship!”

Damian gave his best batglare™ to his siblings, and Marinette looked at the roof of the Wayne Enterprises building where Damian was looking, but she saw nothing. “What are you glaring at?” Marinette asked, bumping shoulders with Damian.

“Oh, nothing. I just thought that I saw something. Anyway, you were telling me about how you designed for Jagged Stone?” Damian asked while rubbing circles on the back of Marinette’s hand.

“Oh yeah, it was more so luck than anything. Jagged Stone is really nice, and he gave me a chance. I especially enjoy designing for him because before I even met him, he was my favorite musician.”

“That’s pretty cool. Did you know Jagged Stone is a Gotham native? My father went to school with him.”

“Really? That’s so cool. I wonder what teenaged Jagged Stone was like. To be honest, he probably wasn’t that different from how he acts know,” Marinette laughed. Damian was staring at her again, but he couldn’t help it. She was so cheerful, and her smile was so bright. He vaguely wondered how he was so lucky as to be matched with such a wonderful and happy person.

She was like his own personal sun.

“Well, Damian what do you like to do?”

“Spend time with you,” Marinette flicked some of the water from the fountain at Damian.

“That’s not a real answer.”

“I like to practice sword fighting and to study. I also do martial arts with my family.”

“You know martial arts?” Marinette’s eyes lit up. “Do you think you could teach me?” While becoming Ladybug had drastically increased her fighting skills, she wouldn’t turn down the opportunity to improve.

“I definitely could. I would say that I could teach you this Saturday, but…” Marinette laughed.

“It’s okay. We have awhile before I go back to Paris.”

Damian frowned at the reminder that she soon would be leaving Gotham. “Hey, have you guys been to Wayne Enterprises yet?” Damian asked.

“No, we really wanted to tour it, but it we weren’t able to schedule one,” Marinette sighed.

“Would you like to see it?”

The two of them smiled at each other, “I would love to.”

Behind the two of them the fountain lights turned on, shining on the statue of a boy with horns giving a flower to a smiling girl.

It was almost sunset.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment!


	5. Revelations

Wayne Enterprise’s building was absolutely gorgeous. Marinette found herself stunned when she walked through the revolving doors into the ornate lobby. All around her was marble and tall pillars. She looked up and saw a huge, crystal chandelier and gold accents littered all across the ceiling. As Damian guided her to the elevator, she could feel her feet sink into the plush carpet, and she was reminded of all the times she visited Chloe at her father’s hotel.

“Hey Damian, can we stop here for a second?” Marinette asked reaching for her bag, pulling out her sketchbook. “I really want to sketch this room.” Damian nodded and guided her to the benches by the wall.

When Marinette started drawing in her sketchbook, she found herself drawing Damian, and she turned slightly so he wouldn’t notice. Marinette realized how ridiculous she was being. She had just meet Damian that morning, but she felt drawn to him. She just hoped that he wouldn’t think of her as crazy with how quickly she had grown to care for him.

She thought back to school that day. Multiple students had come up to her once Damian was called down to the principal’s office and asked if she was okay with Damian being her guide. They kept talking about how rude he was and how he didn’t like to talk much with people, but that didn’t fit what Marinette had seen of Damian today. He had been so kind to her, and he asked her all about her life in France and her parents and her hobbies. He had actually seemed invested in what she had to say. For once, ever since her classmates had abandoned her, she felt appreciated and like someone actually wanted to talk to her and be around her.

She was vaguely worried that he was putting on an act to make fun of her behind her back, and she wondered if Lila would have had an opportunity to talk to Damian before Marinette had met him to set up a prank of this measure. Surely Lila wouldn’t have been able to convince someone, who the students said was so aloof, to spend so much time with her for a joke.

Marinette hoped not. She really liked him, and she didn’t know how she would react if he was just joking about liking her, too. She had lost a lot of her confidence after her friends left her—well all but Nino.

‘Speak of the devil,’ Marinette thought when she felt her phone vibrate, and she pulled it out of her pocket. Damian turned to her and asked, “Who is it?”

“A friend from my class,” Marinette responded reading Nino’s message.

‘Hey dudette, where are you? It’s almost curfew, and you know how dangerous Gotham is. Remember the video they made us watch before we went on this trip?’

“Sorry, Damian. Can we rain check on the Wayne Enterprise tour? My class’s curfew is soon, and I need to get back to the hotel.”

At this, Damian seemed to deflate. “I can take you back to your hotel, if you want. It is almost dark, and Gotham is not safe at night.”

Marinette smiled, “I’d love that.”

It turns out that their hotel was not very close to Wayne Enterprises, and the sun had set by the time that the hotel was in their sight. “There it is, Damian. Just a couple more blocks.”

It seemed that Marinette’s exclamation had jinxed them because right that moment Marinette and Damian heard a loud laugh coming from further down the street. Damian wasted no time in pulling Marinette into an alleyway.

“Damian, what—”

“Shh,” Damian whispered. “It’s the Joker, and trust me when I say you don’t want to meet him.” Marinette stopped. She had researched the different villains in Gotham, and the Joker seemed to be the worst and most violent. Marinette felt her heartbeat increase. This wasn’t Paris, and there was no miraculous cure if something went wrong.

She could hear gunfire and screaming, and it seemed to be making its way closer to the alley where Damian had hidden them. “Marinette, I need you to trust me.”

“You’re the one from Gotham,” Marinette shakily responded, “You’ve lived this long in the city. I trust that you know what to do.”

Damian gently pushed Marinette against the brick wall. He sunk his fingernails into his own palm and hid his face in Marinette’s neck so that the Joker wouldn’t be able to tell who they were. He let his aura free—just enough so that the Joker would sense it and know that he was a vampire.

The Joker was infamous for not interrupting his “vampire brethren’s meals.” Damian could visualize the confusion and fear rolling off of Marinette as the Joker and his henchmen looked into the alley, saw them, laughed, and continued walking. She was so scared, and her pulse was so fast. He could feel it under his lips, and he closed his eyes and slowly pulled away from her neck.

That was too close of a call.

Marinette had no idea what had just happened. Damian looked like a mess with his fingers still imbedded in his palm, his lips pulled together, and his eyes closed. “Damian, are you okay?” Marinette asked.

Damian exhaled before slowly opening his eyes and saying, “Yeah, I’m okay. How are you?”

“I’m as good as can be expected.” Truth be told Marinette was terrified and not only because of their close encounter with the Joker.

She was terrified of Damian because—for just a moment—she could have sworn that his eyes flashed red. She thought again of the story the museum guide had told her class. She thought of Superman, her favorite superhero, and how he was a literal alien. She thought of how she had Tikki—who was a literal god who granted her powers. Where vampires really that far-fetched?

“Let’s get you back to the hotel.” Marinette just nodded, too scared that if she talked, she would reveal her thoughts. When Damian offered his hand to her, she didn’t take it, but she did look down at the palm.

She saw the dried blood, but she didn’t see any cuts.

\----

Damian had never really been scared of rejection before, but he had also never had his mate refuse to take his hand before. He wanted to chalk it up to her still being frightened, but he suspected the worst.

He knew that she was smart. Where there enough clues for her to figure out his secret? He didn’t want Marinette to be scared of him, so he kept his distance on the way back to the hotel. When he dropped her off, he turned to her and said, “I’m sorry that we ran into the Joker.”

“It’s not your fault,” Marinette mumbled. Damian hesitated, thinking of something else to say to her, but he shook his head and walked out the hotel’s front door. They could talk tomorrow.

\----

Once Marinette was safely in her room, she locked the door and went to the window and closed the curtains. She opened her purse and Plagg and Tikki came flying out.

“Oh, Marinette!” Tikki exclaimed, “That was horrible. I’m so glad that you got out without being injured.”

“Yeah, your boyfriend is pretty good at thinking on his feet,” Plagg added.

“About Damian,” Marinette started, “Did you guys notice anything…off about him?”

“How so?”

“His eyes flashed red for just a second tonight.” Marinette thought back to what she saw, and while it terrified her, she still liked him. “Are vampires real?”

Plagg and Tikki shared a look, “Marinette, there are things in this world that are hard to explain. For example, aliens and kwamis. I’ve encountered…creatures before that fit the lore of vampires.”

Marinette took a shaky breath. Tikki had just confirmed the existence of vampires and now she was concerned that she had gone on a date with one.

What was even more concerning was how she wanted to go on another date with the same vampire.

“Can vampires manipulate emotions? Like, can they make people believe that they love someone even if they don’t?”

“To some extent they can, but love is a tricky emotion to mess with.”

“Yeah, Ladybug, take it from me, they can fake obsession, but they can’t fake actual feelings.” Was Marinette just obsessed with Damian? After all, she had only known him for one day, and she already agreed to go on a date with him. She thought he was nice and cute, and there was something about him that drew her in.

Was it all fake? She had seen various akumas that made people fall in love, and Plagg and Tikki had a point when they said it was just superficial.

But in those instances, she was a third party and could look at the situation from an unbiased point of view. She couldn’t do that here.

\----

“Damian, how did your date go?” Dick asked.

“Don’t pretend like you weren’t spying on us.”

“Hey, we were only spying in the beginning. We don’t know what happened after that,” Dick pouted. “By the way, Bruce and Tim are out fighting the Joker right now.”

“I know. I just came from there. It’s what ended my date tonight.”

Jason and Dick looked at each other, “Is Marinette alright?”

“Yeah, she’s shaken up but physically okay. I dropped her off at her hotel before coming home,” Damian turned around to face his brothers. “I’m not one hundred percent sure, but I think she suspects us.”

Dick’s lips curled back, unintentionally showing his fangs. “We need to tell Bruce.”

\-----

Saying Marinette was surprised when she went down to the hotel lobby next morning to find out a man she had never seen before was asking for her, was an understatement. He was tall and had a lean build with blue eyes and black hair.

“You’re Marinette Dupain-Cheng, right?” After she nodded, he continued, “My name’s Dick Grayson. I’m going to be driving you to Wayne Enterprises today. Bruce Wayne wants to meet you.”

“While I’m honored that Mr. Wayne wants to meet me, I’m supposed to go with my class to Gotham Academy today.”

“Don’t worry. I already talked it over with your teachers. Now come on; the car is waiting outside.”

When they arrived at Wayne Enterprises, Marinette was just as awed as she was last night. Especially when she went into Bruce Wayne’s office.

Imagine her surprise when she saw Damian’s father sitting at the desk. She felt so stupid. _Damian Wayne_. She had gone on a date with him without even knowing his last name. She had meet Bruce Wayne without even knowing that he was, in fact, Bruce Wayne.

“Ms. Dupain-Cheng, it’s a pleasure to see you again.”

Marinette idly noticed that Dick Grayson, who—she realized—was _that_ Dick Grayson, sat down on the couch at the side of the room.

“It’s great to officially meet you, Mr. Wayne.” Marinette said, slowly shuffling over to the seat that Mr. Wayne had pointed to.

“Call me Bruce,” Mr. Wayne smiled, “My son told me about your date with him last night. I’m terribly sorry about your run in with the Joker. I can’t imagine how much that must have shaken you up.”

“It’s okay. We have a supervillain in Paris, too, so I’m kind of used to it. Of course, the Joker is a lot more…violent.” She looked up at Bruce’s face and saw visible confusion.

“There’s a supervillain in Paris?” She turned around to face Dick.

“Yeah, he’s been there for years. He calls himself Hawkmoth, and he takes advantage of negative emotions to turn people into akumas. Ladybug and Chat Noir have been fighting them off for years now, but just about every Parisian has been caught up in at least one attack.” She couldn’t quite tell what Bruce thought of what she was saying, and that worried her, just a little bit.

Dick coughed pulling Marinette’s attention back towards him. “We can talk more about the situation in Paris later. Marinette, Bruce wanted to ask you about what happened last night.”

Calm yourself, Marinette. Don’t show fear. Don’t let on that you know anything about their—eating habits.

“Well, Damian took me to the gardens after school…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are much appreciated!


	6. Dramatic Teens

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Excuse any typos in this chapter, I was too lazy to edit it.

“… and then, of course, the whole thing with the Joker happened. He saw Damian and I, but he kept walking. After that, Damian walked me to my hotel,” Marinette told the whole story as quickly as she could—leaving out a couple of key elements. She didn’t want to show all of her cards to people who were dangerous—especially when she didn’t know if she could trust them.

She ignored the (rather large) part of her mind that said she could trust Damian. She didn’t even know him.

After a brief pause, Dick walked up to Marinette and clapped her on the back, “Well, I think it’s time we get you back with the rest of your class at Gotham Academy. I know Damian is excited to see you.”

“Okay,” Marinette mumbled, caught between wanting to see Damian, too and wanting to forget she had ever met him.

\------

For the rest of the day at Gotham Academy, Marinette’s stupid lovesick side won over her paranoid half, and she spent the day following Damian through his classes. Her logical side was screaming that she should have asked to shadow a different student.

Marinette lied to herself, saying that it would just make her look more suspicious to the Waynes if she stopped talking to Damian. That was all there was to it.

Marinette was interrupted from her thoughts by a peppy girl stepping in front of her. “Hi, I don’t think we’ve met. My name’s Patty and I’m president of the art club here. I heard that you liked art, so I wanted to tell you that there’s a meeting after school today, if you want to come.”

“I would love to.” After all, Gotham Academy’s art program was the main reason why she was so excited to come to Gotham in the first place. It would be a good distraction from Damian. “What are we going to do at the meeting today?”

“Today we’re starting our club’s annual tradition. We basically draw names out of a hat and make a piece of art for whoever we get. They ask for what they want, and we get to put our own spin on it. It’s a super great bonding exercise and it’s really fun.”

“I can’t wait.” It would be a good excuse to get away from Damian and vampires and actually be able to process her thoughts.

Unfortunately, things were never that easy.

Marinette drew Patty’s name, and Patty asked for a piece of artwork related to vampires. Marinette did not feel much like Lady Luck right now.

As Marinette picked up a canvas, she thought about what she could paint that wouldn’t drive her insane while doing it. She supposed that she could always paint Dracula or something. She could act like she had never actually seen a vampire before—easy.

It was not easy. While Marinette tried her hardest to not put any of her personal experience with vampires in the art, she didn’t succeed. On her first sketch, her subject ended looking far too much like the taxi driver she had met on her first day in Gotham. It was disturbing, and Marinette decided that Patty would not like it, so she tried again. While her next sketch didn’t outright resemble anyone in particular, the eyes were just a little too much like her maybe boyfriend for comfort.

At this rate, the painting wouldn’t even be finished before Marinette had to go back to Paris. It was almost a relief when Marinette’s phone went off, and she saw that it was an akuma alert. She left the art room as subtly as she could and went to the bathroom to pull out her back pack, in which had hidden a box with glasses.

Pulling it out and opening it up, Marinette saw the kwami, who Tikki had told her was named Kaalki, fly out. “Hello, Kaalki. My name’s Marinette and I need you to help me get to Paris to fight off an akuma. You up for it?”

\-----

It took three long hours to defeat the akuma—a middle-aged man who had been fired from his job and became determined to destroy everyone else’s workplaces to put them out of work too. Her parent’s bakery was one of the first places targeted, and to show their gratitude her parents had given her—as Ladybug—cookies. Marinette loved her parents.

By the time that Marinette had returned to Gotham, the school was empty, and she returned to her hotel by herself, glad that the sun was still out.

Checking her phone, Marinette saw that she had a slew of missed calls and texts from Damian. Her thumb hovered over the button to call him back, but she decided against it at the last moment. She needed to remember that he was dangerous.

‘Don’t trust him. Don’t get attached.’ She thought as she turned on the TV in her room. Marinette soon found herself mentally lost in some stupid reality TV show about finding “true love”, and it wasn’t until she heard a knock at her window that she was snapped back into reality.

She walked over and opened her curtains. Doing a double take, Marinette saw that Robin was standing there, on her balcony. Why was one of Gotham’s vigilantes visiting her? Opening the door, Marinette asked, “Are you lost?”

Without answering her question, he walked through the door. “Are you Marinette Dupain-Cheng? One of the exchange students from France?”

“Yeah, that’s me.”

“You disappeared earlier this afternoon, and it caused quite a lot of chaos. I’m here to check up on you and make sure you’re well.”

“I’m fine. You don’t need to worry about me. I just wanted to explore Gotham a little bit. Aren’t there crimes you should be stopping right now? Rather than checking up on me?”

“Not yet. The suns still out.”

Marinette was never one for gambling, but Robin was a hero like her. He fought Gotham’s criminals, who were vampires, so she took a shot in the dark. “The villains here in Gotham, they have odd weaknesses, don’t they? They never come out during the day and their have really sharp teeth. I hadn’t noticed it before I saw the Joker last night, but I don’t think he’s human. They’re vampires, aren’t they? They’re real?” At this Marinette paused for a second to watch Robin’s face, “Are you a vampire hunter?”

Robin hesitated, “yes, in a way, I am. As you’ve probably guessed, most of Gotham’s criminals are vampires, and I stop them.”

“Great, I have a couple of questions for you.”

“I think it’s best if I leave.”

“No, I need your help. There’s this guy, and I think he’s a vampire. Can vampires control emotions?”

At this Robin seemed to flinch, “Why do you ask?”

“I feel drawn to him, but at the same I know that I should be avoiding him. I need to know if he’s controlling me to make me into his personal snack or something.” Marinette huffed, not noticing how affected Robin seemed by what she was saying. The always confident hero seemed to shrink into himself when Marinette mentioned her fear of being controlled by him.

“They can control actions, but there is always an instinctual part of you that knows that you don’t want to do what they are making you do.” He hesitated, “is he drawn to you, too?”

“I mean, I guess? He was the one who asked me out, but that could’ve just been a trap.”

“It’s sounds like… you might be his mate.”

“What?”

“Vampires live a lot longer than humans do, so in order to not lose their sanity, they evolved to be able to identify their soulmates. They know right away that this is the person who they are supposed to spend their life with, and, to a lesser extent, the human feels this, too. The bond is similar to what you’re describing.”

This was too much. Marinette couldn’t process it all. Robin thought that she was destined to spend the rest of her life with Damian. If it was true, did Damian plan on turning her into a vampire? Did he ever plan on letting her go back to Paris without him? A small part of her said that she didn’t even want to go back to Paris if it was without Damian.

This wasn’t good.

“Robin, I think it’s time for you to go. The sun’s about to set, so go out there and protect Gotham. I need to think.”

“Be safe, Marinette.”

\------

The next day came too quickly for Marinette’s taste. After sitting next to Damian for two classes, she finally cracked and turned to him. “Why did you ask me out?”

“Because I thought that you were cute and charming.”

“We literally didn’t even talk before you asked me out.”

“Well then, maybe I just felt fate telling me what to do.”

“Do I hear talking?” The teacher interrupted, “I’m trying to prepare you for the AP exam, which you need to pass for college credit, so I would appreciate if you paid attention.”

Damian leaned in to whisper, “Speaking of dates, do you want to go on another one with me?”

Yes, she did. “I’ll have to see when I have time to.” Damian looked at her, a little sad, and Marinette felt bad. If what Robin said was right, he was feeling the pull a lot more than she was. Maybe one more date wouldn’t hurt. “But I would love to go on another date with you.”

She would give Damian a chance, (and if it didn’t work out, Robin was pretty cute.)

\------

Damian’s chance came that Friday afternoon at a local ice cream store.

“You know, there’s an ice cream stand in Paris where, supposedly, the owner can see people’s soulmates. He likes to give out hints through his ice cream.” Marinette looked thoughtfully at Damian, “It wouldn’t surprise me if he could see soulmates. I can’t think of any other reason why he would talk to a couple and give out hints that so obviously do not match the person there with.”

Damian hummed in agreement, eating a bite of his ice cream.

Marinette leaned in, “Do you believe in soulmates?” Damian choked.

“What?”

“I asked if you believe in soulmates.” Marinette stared expectantly at Damian, waiting for an answer.

How was Damian supposed to respond to that? He had put this mind in her head as Robin, but now that she was talking to Damian about it, he didn’t know what to do. “I’ve never considered myself a romantic, but I do believe in soulmates. I’ve always just considered it to be a fact that one day I would meet someone who complements me.” He cleared his throat. “My mother always mentioned that they weren’t real, but then I went to live with my father when I was ten, and he was a big supporter of the idea of soulmates. I suppose that’s ironic with how much turbulence he’s had in his love life, including my mother, but what can you do?”

“He’s hopeful,” Marinette was looking right in Damian’s eyes, “I think that’s nice. I try to be hopeful to. I try to give people a chance even when I’m scared that I might get hurt. Ever since I lost some of my friends, I’ve found it hard to actually trust people who I don’t know. Damian,” she lowered her voice, “I know that your family isn’t exactly normal. I don’t trust you yet, but I want to.”

To any listener this might have sounded harsh or needlessly dramatic, but Damian realized what Marinette was saying, and he was grateful.

“I won’t let you down, Marinette.”

Behind the counter Avery Warren, a college student at Gotham University yawned and leaned her head on her hand, waiting for the end of her shift.

Watching the two high schoolers holding each other’s hands while talking about trust, she wondered if she that dramatic as a teenager.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter kind of had to be serious to develop Damian's and Marinette's relationship, but I don't like super serious stuff, so I had to make it a little funny at the end.
> 
> As always, please comment!


	7. The Breakfast Club

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is mainly a filler chapter, fair warning.

Marinette was flying on a high, and it seemed that nothing could bring her down. Lila Rossi took that as a challenge. It was a peaceful Saturday morning, and Marinette was sitting in the hotel lobby eating a muffin and texting Damian.

Then she felt orange juice slide down her back. “Oops, sorry Marinette. My hand slipped. Did I ever tell you guys that I have Parkinson’s disease?”

Marinette wanted to scream that Lila did not have Parkinson’s disease, and this was not an accident. She was being bullied, and her former friends just ignored it. She felt tears run down her face as she looked over at Alya and saw her try to stifle a laugh. This wasn’t funny.

How could they abandon her like this? As Marinette ran to the elevator, she was stopped by one of the workers in the hotel lobby, “Sweetheart, are you okay? Do you want me to talk to your teacher about what happened?”

“No,” Marinette croaked out, “I just want to go up to my room and take a shower.” Marinette was starting to feel the orange juice drying on her clothes, and she felt sticky and gross.

Once she got to her room, she ran into the bathroom, and the two kwamis flew out of her purse.

“I’m worried about her.” Plagg whispered to Tikki.

“Me too. I think it’s good that she met Damian. Even if he isn’t her soulmate, they’re good for each other. All we can do right now is support her.” They sat in silence waiting for their soon-to-be new guardian to return.

Once Marinette exited the shower, she plopped on her bed and read her most recent text from Damian, ‘Are you okay? You’ve been silent for a while.’

‘Yeah, I’m fine. Someone just spilled orange juice on me, so I had to take a shower. Where are you right now?’

‘Saturday detention’

Marinette hesitated for a second, not wanting to be annoying, but she decided to ask it anyway. ‘Can I join?’

‘Sure. Mr. Harrison doesn’t care, but why would you want to?’

‘I’m just not having the best morning, and I don’t want to deal with my class.’ Marinette hit send and rolled off her bed. She supposed that she could cross going to detention off her bucket list.

\-----

“God this is boring.” One of the boys sitting in the front row said. “Mr. Harrison isn’t even watching. We don’t have to sit here doing nothing.”

“And what do you want to do? Mr. Harrison took our phones.” The girl with pink hair said, punching the guy in the arm. At hearing that the teacher collected their phones, Marinette looked at Damian with a raised eyebrow.

“What? I wanted to keep texting you, so I took my phone back when he wasn’t looking.” Damian replied, laughing at Marinette’s scandalized expression.

“How about we say what we did that landed us here.” At the guys recommendation, Marinette heard multiple groans around the room—one of which came from Damian.

“I think that’s a good idea,” Marinette popped in, “I don’t know much about you guys and it would be a fun bonding exercise.”

“Oh, you’re one of those exchange students! You guys, I got one of the exchange students on my side. Now we have to do it. I’ll start. I got in trouble for stealing a guy’s phone.”

“Matt, why on earth would you steal someone’s phone? You’re rich.”

“Correction, my parents are rich. Anyway, he was being annoying, so I wanted to watch him freak out.”

The pink haired girl laughed, “Too bad that you suck at stealing things and got caught immediately by a teacher.”

“Like you could do any better. Any so, who is next?” He asked making eye contact with Marinette. “How about the French cutie?” At this Marinette heard Damian growl, and she put her hand on his thigh to calm him down. Once she realized what she had done, she pulled her hand away, apologizing. What had possessed her to do that?

“I didn’t really do anything. I just wanted to hang out with Damian.”

“Oh, a detention date. That’s sexy.” One of the girls near her began, “Well, then, Damian what did you do to end up here? Or did you really just think that this would be a romantic spot to bring your new girlfriend?”

“I broke a guy’s fingers.” Damian said, not willing to add anymore to what had happened.

“I punched a guy in the face. Broke my own thumb in the process.” Someone to the left of Marinette added, not letting the lighthearted mood leave.

“You have bad punching technique then,” Damian responded.

“I cheated on one of Mrs. Willson’s tests.”

“I plagiarized on one of Mr. Mercia’s papers.” The room quickly became a competition about who had done the most daring, crazy thing. Marinette smiled to herself. This was much better than spending the day with her class.

“Come one, Marinette. Let’s leave. Mr. Harrison won’t be back to check on us until the end of the day, so as long as we’re back by then we’ll be fine.”

“Can we go to the art room then? I want to work on a painting.”

\-----

“So I’m supposed to give this painting to Patty, and do you want to guess what the subject she wants is?”

“What?” Damian asked, staring at Marinette as she gathered the different brushes and paint.

“Vampires,” Marinette smirked, showing off one of her dimples.

“I want to make it look realistic.” Marinette continued. “I was wondering if you would show me what you’re fangs look like. You know, for the gift.”

“For the gift? Or for your curiosity?”

“Does it make a difference?”

“No, I suppose it doesn’t.” As Damian was about to bring out his fangs, he stopped. “You won’t be scared of me, will you?”

“I don’t think it is the fangs that make me scared. It’s more so…what you do with them.” Marinette continued with a low voice, “That night when we ran into the Joker, I was terrified. I’ve read all about the horrible things the Joker has done, and I thought the two of us were going to be next. Then you got us out of the situation, and I thought I was safe. Then I saw your eyes flash red, and I didn’t know what to think. Logically, I knew that you had just protected me, but I was still petrified.”

They sat in silence.

“Have you heard about vampire mates before?”

“Yeah, Robin told me about them one night, when he came to check on me and make sure I was safe.”

“You’re my mate. Everyone has a soulmate, but vampires are the only ones who can consciously tell who their soulmate is. I feel called to protect you. I don’t want you to be scared of me.” Damian held her hand.

“I’m not scared of you.” Marinette assured.

“I don’t want you to be afraid of my family either. Would you be willing to meet them? They’re kind of crazy, but I’m the first out of them to find my mate and they really want to meet you.” Damian looked earnest, and his eyes glowed an emerald green. She couldn’t say no.

“Of course, I want to meet your family.” Damian smiled, showing off his fangs, “but first I want to draw your fangs before I forget what they look like. Hold still.” He laughed, and despite his far too sharp teeth, Marinette thought his smile was the cutest thing.

As she leaned down to sketch, her wet hair dripped on the canvas, and Damian reached over putting her hair behind her ear.

He was her soulmate.

Who said fate was cruel?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment!


	8. The Twilight Marathon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was not edited, so excuse any typos.

While Marinette had already met Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson, she had yet to meet the rest of Damian’s family. She didn’t know what to expect.

She certainly didn’t expect them to be as welcoming as they were.

“Wow, you’re demon spawn’s mate,” said the man who introduced himself as Jason. “You could do better than him.”

“Todd!”

“Just telling the truth. Would you prefer that I lie to your mate?” Damian scowled, and before he could respond, Dick interrupted.

“Well, Marinette it’s great to officially met you. Sorry about the last time that we met, but we had to figure out how much you knew.”

Marinette forced a smile. She was still vaguely terrified of Damian’s family because she was Damian’s mate, but she didn’t know if that would protect her from his brothers. Looking at the Jason and Dick bickering with Damian, she realized that they really cared for each other. She hoped that the care would extend to her. She already had Hawkmoth as an enemy. She doesn’t need a vampire family to be out to get her, too.

“It’s really great to meet all of you officially and in a less hostile environment.”

“Well, Miss Marinette, I’m sorry for how my masters acted. You seem like a wonderful young lady.”

“Don’t worry about it, Alfred. I was just very jumpy because I didn’t know how to act around my boyfriend’s family.” ‘Who are also vampires’ Marinette thought. She didn’t want to judge them, but she still worried. All she knew about vampires was from myths—and who knows how accurate those are.

At that moment, Damian’s father extended his hand towards her, guiding her to the dining room, “I think it’s time for dinner.”

Marinette hoped there wasn’t blood involved. She didn’t think she could stomach watching them drink blood. Seemingly reading her thoughts, Alfred said, “I’ve made steak tonight. I do hope you enjoy it.”

“I’m sure I’ll love it.”

\-------

Marinette did love it—almost as much as she loved Damian’s family. After eating dinner, they all went to the family room and decided to watch a movie. Tim, Jason, and Dick all voted to watch Twilight. Damian was strongly against it, but once Marinette said she would enjoy watching it, he relented.

“We don’t sparkle in the sun. That’s ridiculous.” Damian whispered in Marinette’s ear. The two of them were curled up together on one of the couches, with Marinette’s head resting on Damian’s arm.

“Speaking of that, is the sunlight just a myth? I’ve seen all of you in the sun before.”

“Well,” Damian began, “everyone here has a specific ring that was gifted to father by a powerful witch. When we are wearing it, it allows us to go into the sun without it destroying us. As far as we know, we’re the only vampires with this ability. Hence why crime in Gotham only gets really bad after the sun sets.”

“So, it’s true then that all of the villains here are vampires, too?” Damian paused thinking of how to answer, but Bruce bet him to it.

“Not all of them, but most of them are. They also happen to be turned vampires. This means that they haven’t learned how to control themselves, so they kill without mercy.”

“Were you all born as vampires then?”

At Marinette’s question, they all seemed to look at each other as if debating on how to answer. At last, Tim responded, “Damian is the only one we know for sure was born as a vampire. Bruce, Dick, and I were all turned, and we don’t know for sure if Jason was turned at a very young age or born as a vampire.”

“This is why it is so important that you don’t wonder the streets at night. You don’t want to be turned by someone like the Joker. It was a mistake I learned the hard way.” Bruce sat down next to Marinette and Damian. “Have you heard of how my parents died?” Marinette nodded—everyone had heard of that. “The man who killed them was a vampire, and after draining my parents, he turned me. If Alfred hadn’t been there to keep me on the right track, I might’ve ended up like the Penguin or the Riddler.”

“There’s one more thing you should know, Marinette.” Damian said, “Alfred was a vampire hunter in his younger days.”

“Why, Master Damian, are you implying that I am no longer in my young days?” Marinette laughed at Alfred’s fake scandalized look. They might have been a family of vampires and a vampire hunter, but they seemed so…normal.

She loved it.

\----

That night, the whole Wayne family took Marinette back to her hotel, and when she leaned in to kiss Damian goodnight, Damian’s brothers whistled. She could feel her face heat up, and the blush didn’t go away until Marinette was in her room talking to Plagg and Tikki.

“You two are so cute together,” Tikki gushed.

“The best match since camembert and I,” Plagg added.

“I really do like him. He really seems to care about me, but what is going to happen when I go back to Paris?” Marinette couldn’t imagine dealing with her class without Damian there to offer her support.

Tikki seemed troubled at this, but Plagg just went to the refrigerator to grab cheese. “Weren’t you planning to go to Gotham University next year for college? College will be here sooner than you know it, and then you and your boyfriend will be in the same city for the next four years.”

At this, Marinette perked up. “That’s right! There’s only six more months until I leave for college, and I have already been accepted there. I need to talk to my parents.”

Looking at the clock, Marinette decided to call them the next morning as it would be too late in Paris right now. Just as Marinette was setting her alarm and heading to bed, she heard a knock on her window.

Looking over, Marinette gasped. “Robin? What are you doing here?”

“I’m checking up on you. Last time we talked, you said you were hanging out with a vampire. Is everything okay with that?”

“Yeah, I think we’re soulmates. He’s really sweet.”

Robin smiled, “That’s quite the change of tune since the last time we talked.”

“I know, but I’ve gotten to know him better since then. It’s only been a couple of days, but I… think I love him.” Marinette had always been quick to express her emotions, but she still found herself shocked by what she said. She had barely known him for a week, but she believed what she said.

She was in love with Damian.

She looked back up at Robin, and he looked shocked. “Are you okay?” Marinette asked.

“Yeah, I’m good. I’m just surprised.”

“You were the one who told me about mates in the first place. Why are you surprised?” As Robin stuttered to try and find an answer, Marinette really looked at him for the first time. He looked familiar.

“Damian?” Robin’s shocked expression turned terrified. “You’re Robin?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment! It motivates me to write!


	9. Secrets, Secrets Are No Fun

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys, I had to go and look back through all of my past chapters because I honestly cannot remember what I wrote and what I just planned on writing. I'm still a little worried that I might've missed something, so if you see a continuity error in here, please point it out in the comments. Thanks, and enjoy!

_"Damian?” Robin’s shocked expression turned terrified. “You’re Robin?”_

Robin—Damian, whatever—tried to pull himself together to deny it, but he couldn’t bring himself to lie to Marinette. She didn’t deserve it.

“You love me.” It was Marinette’s turn to stutter and fumble for a reply.

“Don’t change the subject!”

“I’m just shocked.”

“Well, I’m shocked, too.” Marinette could feel herself having a mini-heart attack. Not only was her very new and recent boyfriend a vampire, but he was also a crime fighting vigilant.

And she had just confessed her love to him without meaning to. She didn’t think she could handle anything else tonight. She took a deep breath. “I think we both need to calm down and discuss this in a mature way.” Despite her brave words, Marinette didn’t think she would be able to fully calm down, but it seemed that Damian agreed with her. He had much more success in relaxing than Marinette did.

Sitting down on the bed, Damian and Marinette turned to face each other. At the feeling of Damian’s eyes on her, Marinette lost any sense of bravado she had, and she started to fiddle with the ring on her necklace.

“Which revelation do you want to talk about first?” Damian asked in a soft voice, trying to ease Marinette’ anxiety. Somewhere in the back of her mind, Marinette realized that Damian could probably hear her racing heart.

“You’re Robin.”

“Yes, I am.”

“I’m assuming that means the rest of your family are the other vigilantes?” At Marinette’s question—more of a statement, really—Damian winced.

“Yeah, I was hoping you wouldn’t catch onto that part, though. It’s not my secret to tell.” Marinette had the vague thought that she should tell him that she was really good at hiding secret identities, but she decided against it. They had had enough revelations for one night. Sometime soon, though.

“When my father was turned, he saw how…awful vampires were. He vowed that he would never be like them, so he became Batman to protect the humans of Gotham city. In that time, he stumbled across my brothers, and he realized that they didn’t want to prey on humans like the other vampires either. So, he took them in.” Marinette’s head was spinning, but that didn’t stop Damian from continuing. “I want to tell you everything, all cards on the table, so here it goes. My mother and grandfather were from a…cult if you will. They were assassins, and they raised me to be like them, with no regard for human life except for the blood that they offer.”

At this, Marinette had to interrupt, “So were your mother and grandfather vampires, too?” At Damian’s affirmative nod, she couldn’t hold but a faint giggle. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to laugh it’s just hard to believe. I mean the fact that you were raised by vampire assassins. I think I’m laughing as a copping mechanism.” She was trying her hardest to be mindful of how traumatizing Damian’s childhood with his mother must have been, but it was vaguely funny to hear as a third party.

“It’s okay. I know it sounds ridiculous.” He put his hand on Marinette’s knee, and she leaned into his shoulder as a queue for him to continue the story. “My grandfather was killed by one of his past students, and my mother dropped me off with my father. I was ten.” There was a pregnant pause before Damian continued in a hoarser voice, “My father had his work put out for him. He had to engrain a respect for life in me. I had to reevaluate all of my morals. It was a rough couple of years for me, and I’m still pretty standoffish and cold to a lot of people.”

“Is that why everyone at Gotham Academy calls you the Ice Prince?”

Damian let out a snort, which Marinette took as answer enough. He got up and paced while Marinette watched him.

He stopped suddenly and grinned. “Well, onto the next revelation,” Marinette covered her face with her hands as Damian continued in a happy voice, “You love me?”

“You weren’t supposed to hear that,” she groaned.

“But I did,” he grabbed Marinette’s hand, “Marinette, I don’t act this close with anyone else. I don’t even think I joke around with my brothers as much as I do with you. I love you, too, Marinette.” At Damian’s sincere eyes, Marinette felt her heart swim with guilt. In the time Marinette had known him, he had revealed two—three if you counted his childhood—big secrets about himself. The least Marinette could do was be honest with one secret in return.

“Damian, you know how you said all cards on the table? Well, I have something I want to tell you.”

“You don’t have a boyfriend, do you?” Marinette could see Damian’s worry, so she laughed to calm him down.

“No, I don’t have a boyfriend, but…you’re not the only superhero between the two of us. You know how I told you about the superheroes in Paris? I’m one of them—Ladybug. Plagg, Tikki, and Kaalki, you can come out." As the three kwamis floated out of Marinette's purse, Damian audibly gasped, a reaction which Marinette could already tell was rare for him. "These are kwamis. Tikki is mine, and she is the one who gives me my powers."

"It's so great to meet Marinette's soulmate. I'm the kwami of creation."

"The other two are Plagg and Kaalki," she said motioning to each on as she said their names. "They aren't mine, but I'm holding onto them for now. Kaalki is how I'm traveling from Gotham to Paris and back when there's an akuma."

She looked over at Damian and breathed a sigh of relief. He looked a little overwhelmed, but he didn’t seem upset at all. As a matter of fact, he almost seemed relieved. “Angel, you’re going to fit in so well with my family.” He leaned in and kissed her.

All-in-all it was a good night, and Damian and Marinette spent so long talking that they both fell asleep at around one AM.

The bad part? Marinette forgot to set her alarm.

\-------

Marinette woke up to Damian shaking her. “Five more minutes,” she mumbled.

But the shaking didn’t stop, “Marinette, it’s already ten. You need to get up.”

Marinette jerked awake. “I’m late,” she shuffled around the room looking for clothes to wear, and Damian could hear her muttering curses in French. “We were supposed to go to an art museum today, but they would have left at nine.”

“It’s okay.” Damian said in an attempt to calm her down, “I can ask for Alfred to pick us up and take us there. No big deal.” It seemed to do the trick as Marinette visibly relaxed.

“Really?”

“Really. Go take a shower and I’ll go down to the lobby to get something for breakfast.” Marinette smiled and agreed, which was all the motivation Damian needed for spending his free Sunday at an art museum he had already been to multiple times.

He didn’t quite know what Marinette would want for breakfast, but he grabbed both a blueberry muffin and a chocolate chip muffin, hoping they were safe choices, and he headed back up to the room.

Once he got to the door, he realized he didn’t take a room key with him, and he silently cursed his forgetfulness. Listening through the door, he could hear the shower water turn off, and he waited a couple of moments before knocking on the door.

He gulped when Marinette opened the door in a towel. He was supposed to be put together. He was an immortal creature of the night, but he was being bested by his hormones.

“Oh, muffins! Thanks, Damian.” Marinette leaned in to kiss him on the cheek as she grabbed the chocolate chip muffin. She stepped aside to let Damian in the room.

Damian noticed something else, and he couldn’t stop himself from saying, “you have a tattoo.”

Marinette’s eyes widened mid-bite, “Yeah, I do. I actually got it here.”

Her matter-of-fact answer still wasn’t enough to knock Damian to his senses. “It’s a robin.”

“Oh, yeah that—that’s right. That’s awkward. I just really like robins, you know. I mean, I like birds in general, but I especially like robins. They’re pretty, but, like, this tattoo doesn’t have anything to do with you. I mean, not that you aren’t pretty, but you’re not a bird or an actual robin, you know? I’m rambling, aren’t I?” Marinette’s hands fumbled with the muffin as her face slowly but surely became a bright red.

“I like it.” Damian said taking a bite of his own muffin.

The two of them smiled dopily at each other until Marinette ended the moment by exclaiming, “Oh, shot, I need to call my parents!”

\--------

Tom and Sabine weren’t expecting a call from their daughter, but that didn’t make them any less happy to get one. They were just closing for the day, when Sabine’s phone began to ring.

“It’s Marinette!” Sabine yelled to her husband who was back in the kitchen. “Hi, Marinette. How’s Gotham?”

“It’s good, maman.”

“You know your father and I were talking, and we think you should visit Gotham University while you’re there. You probably won’t be able to go back to America to tour colleges before you have to commit to one.”

“Yeah, maman, I’ll definitely try to go there. That’s actually what I want to talk to you about. I want to go there.”

Sabine looked over to Tom, who had just joined her, “for sure?”

“For sure.” Tom gestured for Sabine to put the phone on speaker.

“What’s brought this on?” Tom asked.

“Well, I really like it here. I like the scenery. I like the city. I especially like the people.” Sabine’s thoughts rolled. It sounded like there was a hidden meaning in Marinette’s last sentence. Had she met a boy? But Marinette wasn’t the kind of girl to make such a big decision on one little relationship that might not work out. Sabine decided that she would pester her daughter about it later, when Tom wasn’t around to become an overly protective father.

"My little baby is going to college." Tom said, close to tears.

\---------

After the brief, but emotional phone call (Marinette was pretty sure that she heard her dad crying at some point), her and Damian left to go to Gotham’s largest art museum, which Damian informed her was funded by the Waynes.

“Is there anything in this city that isn’t funded by your family?”

“The crime.” Damian responded as they walked through the doors and asked a desk worker where the French class was.

Surprise, surprise, they were the loudest group in the whole building. Lila was once again regaling the class with her outlandish stories, and the whole class—minus Chloe and Adrien, who both looked steps away from committing murder—were making loud exclamations of how amazing Lila was.

“So anyway, rumor has it that my Damiboo was out ring shopping.” She paused for dramatic effect, “I think he’s going to propose soon!”

The gasps and exclamations were so many that Marinette could barely make out what was being said. She did however hear Rose’s “Lila that’s so adorable. I’m so happy for you!” and Alya’s, “girl you’re going to be rich, and you’ll have to get me an interview.”

It took Marinette just a moment to realize who exactly “Damiboo” was, but once the realization settled upon her, she grabbed Damian’s arm and attempted to pull him into another room. It worked at first, too.

Then Alya continued, “I can’t believe that you’re going to be a Wayne soon!” That caught Damian’s attention, and it seemed Marinette couldn’t drag him away from the class anymore.

He walked up and stood in front of Lila, “Did you say you’re dating a Wayne?” He asked in a low voice.

Lila, however, did not seem phased by Damian’s tone, and she bragged, “Yes, I’m dating Damian Wayne.” Her smug smile seemed for just a moment to stretch wider than even the Joker’s did.

“No, you’re not.”

At Damian’s words, Lila seemed to stop for just a moment. “Of course, I am.” She laughed, but Marinette could hear a nervous tinge in it.

“No, you’re not.” Damian repeated, in a stronger, louder voice this time.

“What are you claiming she’s a liar? What would you know of the Waynes? They want to keep their relationship a secret.” Alya yelled, stepped up beside Lila and crossed her arms, glaring at Damian.

At Alya’s yelling a crowd gathered, and it seemed that many of them were Gotham natives as they recognized Damian as _the_ Damian Wayne. As the crowd caught on to what was happening, the class could hear quiet laughter and murmuring. 

“I am Damian Wayne,” he said to Alya. Then he turned and focused his attention back on Lila, “and we aren’t dating. I’ve never even met you before. I don’t know what exactly you’ve been saying about my family, but claiming we’re dating is slander considering the fact that I already have a girlfriend. If I hear you lying about my family again, I’ll set the Wayne Enterprise lawyers loose on you, and they aren't known for showing mercy.” Damian spoke in a needlessly loud voice, and Marinette wondered why he was speaking so loudly for a moment. Then it hit her. She realized that he was talking just loud enough that the gathered crowds could hear what he said.

That sly little fox.

As the crowds, buzzed around what just happened, Damian turned to the teacher, “You shouldn’t let your students lie like that. She’s going to get in a lot of trouble one day.”

“She has a disease where she just says things without meaning them sometimes.” Ms. Bustier responded, shrinking in on herself at Damian's glare.

“You mean she’s a pathological liar?” At the teacher’s shocked face, Damian rolled his eyes, and grabbed Marinette’s hand and left the room.

‘Well,’ Marinette thought to herself, ‘that’s certainly one way to prove Lila is a liar.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave comments! They make me happy!


	10. Fright Night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have graphic depictions of violence tagged on this story, and this chapter is one of the main reasons why. Trigger warnings for violence, blood, and vomiting.
> 
> Also vampire venom has an affect were it makes the victims very drowsy and almost drunk acting. 
> 
> If I missed any warnings, tell me in the comments, and I'll add them ASAP.

The students didn’t know what to think about what happened at the museum that Sunday morning. As Nino looked around and saw his classmate’s reactions to what had just happened, he was glad that they weren’t in Paris. He hated having his classmates akumatized.

Rose looked about to cry. Alix looked furious. Alya looked shocked, and Nino could go on and on detailing everyone’s reactions, but to sum it up, none of them were good. He looked over to Adrien, but Adrien’s face gave away no emotions. Ever since they got to Gotham, Adrien had been acting different, and Nino didn’t know what to do about it. He was his best friend, but Nino didn’t even fully understand what was wrong.

All he knew was that it involved Adrien’s ring going missing, and while Nino would like to help him, it was probably stolen by some random pick pocketer out on the street. This _was_ Gotham, after all. Crime found a home here, and it was likely that Adrien would never see his ring again.

Nino walked away from the group that was still up in arms. In the next room over, Nino stopped in front of a random painting to think. The bright colors in the painting swirled before his eyes, and it took him a moment to realize that that was not how the painting was supposed to look. Nino felt light headed. Despite being full of famous paintings, the room was empty except for Nino. He vaguely thought that was odd.

He dropped like a brick.

\--------

Maybe if Marinette hadn’t left the museum with Damian, she would have noticed that Nino wasn’t with the class.

Maybe if Adrien wasn’t so focused on who had his ring, he would have noticed Nino missing.

Maybe if Alya hadn’t been so focused on Lila’s betrayal, she would have noticed something.

As it stands, no one noticed anything. The class, after all, wasn’t the most observant.

\--------

All things considered, Marinette thinks that she is adjusting to having a vigilante vampire soulmate very well. (Really, she would like to see you do better.) 

This didn't stop her from being terrified when he showed up at her hotel room that Sunday night covered in blood. She was afraid to ask who’s blood it was, but Damian must have seen the question in her eyes because he forced out, “I was shot. Silver bullet.” He collapsed on her bed, and Marinette spared a thought to the poor hotel cleaner. Could she pass this much blood off as her period?

“I thought silver bullets were for werewolves.” Marinette said as she put her hands over the wound, trying to stall the bleeding.

“Silver is a holy metal. Bad for vamps.” His voice was cracking now, and Marinette never thought she would hear him sound so…bad. “Can you pull the bullet out?”

Marinette’s thoughts came to a halt. She could not do that. “I don’t think I’m qualified. Do you want me to call your family?”

“No, by the time they get here, the bullet will have touched my lung, burning through it.” At this Damian released a hiss, “I know you don’t want to, but, please, Marinette, I need you to pull it out.”

Marinette didn’t like the thought of pulling out the bullet, but she liked the thought of Damian dying even less. She took a deep breath and asked “Okay, like, do I use my hands?”

Damian reached into his robin costume and pulled out a knife, and he almost dropped it while handing it over. “Once the hole is big enough, yes, but—you need to cut the surrounding area to get to the bullet. My healing—it closed the hole.”

Marinette realized that Damian was, in fact, right because once she pulled her hand away, she couldn’t see an entry wound anymore. Her hands trembled as she brought the knife down to Damian’s chest. She wanted to close her eyes, but she knew that was stupid. She didn’t need to be blindly cutting into her boyfriend. She felt Plagg and Tikki floating behind her, but she couldn’t focus on them right now.

She broke the skin, and blood began to pour out from the incision immediately. She brought the knife around in a circle and pulled the skin back, hoping that the bullet would be just under the skin. No luck. She brought the knife back to Damian’s skin and looked up at him. He had put a pillow in his mouth, and his face was drenched with sweat. She could see his eyes flash red, and his fangs were starting to pierce through the pillow. Shaking herself mentally, she went back to the wound, seeing that it was already starting to close over. She needed to work faster unless she wanted all her progress erased. She pulled Damian’s shirt off, and the dried blood pulled at his skin as it came off. She grabbed the knife again and placed it on the circle she had carved.

Should she have sterilized the knife? Marinette wondered, then she immediately disregarded that thought as stupid and too late. How would she have even sterilized it in her hotel room anyway?

Digging the knife in deeper, she could smell something disgusting. Was that smoke? What was burning? The knife hit something hard, and Marinette saw a flash of silver. “Mon dieu,” she whispered. The flesh around it was turned a disgusting black, and Marinette registered that the smoke was from the bullet burning Damian’s flesh. She felt bile crawl up her throat, and she turned towards the trashcan by the bed as she vomited up her dinner. The smell of her puke and Damian’s blood mixed together, and Marinette started to feel lightheaded. She began to cut faster, and once the hole was big enough, she reached her hand into the wound and felt around for the bullet.

It was lodged in Damian’s shoulder blade, but it came out easier than Marinette expected. Throwing the bullet onto the dresser, Marinette once again pressed her hands to the wound to staunch the bleeding, and she could feel the adrenaline draining out of her. Black dots appeared in her vision, and she collapsed onto the bed next to Damian.

\-------

When Marinette opened her eyes, she saw that it was still dark outside, and Damian was still lying on the bed with the pillow in his mouth. She figured it couldn’t have been long since she passed out, and she moved over to check Damian’s shoulder. It was coated in blood again, but the wound had already closed up. She went to the bathroom to grab a washcloth and a cup of water. She offered Damian the water first, but he just croaked out, “no,” and she didn’t push it. She began to wipe away some of the blood on Damian’s chest.

“You should tell your family that you’re here. They’re probably worried.”

“Marinette,” Marinette hummed in response, “I need blood.”

She stopped. She knew what Damian was asking, but she didn’t know how to respond. She didn’t like the idea of having her blood drained out of her, but she looked up at Damian’s face.

His cheeks’ natural flush was completely gone, and he looked so weak. Her internal battle raged, but she didn’t think that she could actually deny giving him her blood, not when he looked so sick and frail.

“You said earlier that vampires can be turned. If I let you drink my blood, will—will I be… a vampire?”

“No, the process is more complex than that.” She helped Damian sit up.

“Okay, then.” Damian leaned forward slowly, waiting to see if Marinette would change her mind. He rested his nose on her neck, trying to get his hunger under control before he bit her. He licked her neck to soften the skin there and calm Marinette down before he sunk his fangs in.

The sensation was…odd. Marinette didn’t know quite how to describe it. She felt a pinch when his fangs went in, then it just felt like a buzz like that time when she was given happy gas to fill in a cavity she had when she was eight. It spread through her body, and Marinette slumped against Damian.

She didn’t want it to end, even though she knew Damian would have to stop soon if she didn’t want to be drained dry. She could feel Damian sit up straighter as she grew sleepier. Damian pulled away, and Marinette, to her embarrassment, pulled him back to her and mumbled, “no, stay,” in a slurred voice.

“I’m going to get you something to eat. I took about two pints of your blood, so you’re going to feel faint. I’ll be right back.” Despite how much Marinette wanted to stop him, she couldn’t summon enough energy to actually do so.

He came back soon enough with a granola bar and a carton of chocolate milk. He picked Marinette up and placed her on the couch as he sat down next to her. She started to munch solemnly on her granola bar as Damian turned on the TV. “What do you want to watch?”

“You.” Marinette responded.

“The Netflix show?”

“No, you, silly.” Marinette mumbled in as she placed her head on Damian’s shoulder—the previously injured one, not that Marinette was awake or aware enough to notice that.

“I’m just going to turn on jeopardy.” Damian said. He and the rest of his family had been living on blood bags for years, and he had forgotten how strongly vampire venom could affect humans.

“I’m sure you’re tired. How about you go to sleep?”

Marinette looked at him blankly for a moment, then said “Okay,” and curled around Damian like a cat. Once he heard her start to snore, he lifted her bridal style and tucked her into the non-bloody side of the sheets on the bed. He looked around the room, and decided that before he would clean up, he needed to call his family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is definitely very different from the rest of the story so far, so tell me how the writing is! Comments keep me motivated!!!


	11. In Which Alya Needs A Hug

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alya needs time to process what happened at the museum, but when she goes to look for her boyfriend, she can't find him anywhere

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for violence in this chapter. Also sorry for an grammatical mistakes. My computer was dying while I was writing this.

Earlier that Day

Alya didn’t know what to think. Lila couldn’t have been lying to her, but she searched her phone for a photo of Damian Wayne. He looked exactly like the guy who claimed he had never even meet Lila before.

She went through her entire friendship with Lila and over all of the crazy things she claimed she’s done and the famous people she knew. If her dating Damian Wayne wasn’t true, then could everything else be a lie too?

Ms. Bustier tried to wrangle the class into order, but it was obvious that they were all too shocked to continue touring the art museum. As she herded them all onto the bus to take them back to the hotel where they would rest for the day, Alya was only mildly aware of her surroundings. She didn’t talk to anyone. She didn’t sit with anyone. She didn’t even look at any of her friends—especially Lila.

Once the bus arrived at the hotel, she chose to climb the steps rather than take the elevator to their floor like the rest of the class. Her room was on the eighth floor, but she shared it with Lila. She didn’t want to go to her room right now. Instead she continued climbing up the next flight of stairs and walked up to room number 912—where Alix and Sabrina were staying. She knocked on the door and they let her inside where she plopped down on the couch and stared at the wall.

All without saying a word.

See there was one thing in specific that Alya was focusing on. Did Lila lie about Marinette bullying her? It was a hard pill to swallow because Alya couldn’t be friends with bullies, so she ended her friendship with Marinette. If it was a lie, then she left Marinette high and dry for a bully.

(She felt awful.)

….

At some point Alix brought food up to the hotel room for all three of them. They spilled their hearts over lasagna.

“I never mentioned it before, but one of the reasons Chloe left our school was because of Lila. I thought she was just being dramatic, but…”

“Marinette tried to tell us that she was lying. Right from the start, and we didn’t believe her.”

“I published her stories on my Ladyblog without even fact checking, and in the process, I hurt my best friend.” 

“Well,” Alix broke the quietness that had taken over the room, “moping about it now won’t help anyone. How about we watch TV?”

As Alix fiddled with the TV remote, Alya said, “I think I’m going to go to Nino’s room. I want to see how he’s handling all of this.” Sabrina and Alix watched as Alya left without another word.

“I think it’s hurting Alya a lot more than the rest of us.”

“Yeah, I mean, her and Lila were best friends. I can’t imagine how broken up she feels right now.”

“Hopefully, Nino can help her.” Alix hummed in response as the two finally settled on a channel.

…

“Adrien, what do you mean Nino hasn’t been by this room?”

“I meant what I said. I haven’t seen him since the museum.”

“Well maybe he went to Max and Kim’s room.”

“Maybe.”

…

He wasn’t there. As a matter of fact, he wasn’t anywhere Alya had looked. No one had seen Nino since the hotel. No one even remembered him getting on the bus. Alya told Ms. Bustier as much, and she shrugged it off saying that he was smart and that he’ll find a way back to the hotel.

That meant that Alya’s next stop was calling him, but his phone went straight to voicemail. All 23 times she tried to call him, and he wasn’t responding to the texts. Unlike a majority of the class, Nino was still 17, which meant he was a minor—lost in Gotham, the most crime-ridden city in the world.

At this point, Alya felt justified contacting the police. They told her that someone had to be missing for twenty-four hours before they could make an official report, but the museum reported that he wasn’t there anymore.

What should she do know? For the past four years Nino had been her closest confidant, and now she had no idea where he was, and it was getting dark. Every time Alya blinked her eyes showed flashes of the video about crime in Gotham that Marinette made the class watch before the trip. She wishes she had taken it more seriously now.

With Nino missing and the situation with Lila and Marinette, Alya felt sick to her stomach, but she couldn’t leave him alone. She pulled up directions on her phone and began walking around to the different places that sounded like places Nino would like.

Maybe he had just gone to a nearby restaurant and turned off his phone to reflect about the Lila situation? No need to worry, Alya fervently reminded herself.

…

There was ample need to worry after all, as Alya not only didn’t find Nino at any of the restaurants she checked (most of which were closed by now as sunset had already occurred), but she also managed to get herself in trouble too.

She was cornered by four creepy guys and almost sure this was how she was going to meet her end when Nightwing and Robin came to the rescue. She felt like crying and she didn’t even know if they would be tears of relief (for being saved), sadness (because Nino was still missing), or regret (over losing Marinette as a friend) at this point with how her day was going.

Regardless, the four creeps didn’t stand a chance against the two vigilantes, and they were knocked out and zip tied in no time.

“Miss, are you okay?” Nightwing asked.

Physically she was fine. Mentally she was a wreck, and she really wanted these two to help her find Nino. She couldn’t find it in herself to vocalize any of this. Apparently, her horrified expression and tear tracks were enough to tell the two vigilantes that—no she wasn’t fine, and Nightwing picked her up in his arms.

“Where are you staying?” He asked in French (when she wasn’t in shock Alya would later question how he even knew that she spoke French).

“The Wayne Hotel,” She whispered in reply. The quietness of the street was broken by a gunshot and a scream, and Alya had never heard a gunshot in real life before but wow they were loud. She belatedly realized that the scream had come from Robin, and a second one in the form of “Robin!” came from Nightwing. An alarm rang in her mind. Robin was injured. In the split second that she looked at him she saw Chat Noir and imagined that Ladybug was the one carrying her. They were heroes! They didn’t deserve to get shot.

This moment lasted barely a second, but she saw a figure on the roof across the street. They raised their gun again aiming for Nightwing, and somehow Alya mustered all of her strength into twisting her and Nightwing around.

The second bullet pierced her, and the rest past in a blur. She heard Robin’s voice and she could’ve sworn he got up and grappled away. She felt so faint. She couldn’t imagine summoning the strength to do that. The arms around her moved, and wind brushed past her in horrifying waves of weightlessness and being pulled up over and over again. It tugged painfully at her wound. She was so cold. She closed her eyes for a second and when she opened them again, she was on a hospital bed being rushed through the halls.

The lights were too bright, so she closed her eyes again. She hoped Robin was okay.

She hoped Nino was okay even more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow hi, it's been awhile. I had reread this story because I couldn't remember what I'd already written, but I finally got around to watching season 3 of Miraculous Ladybug as well as writing this chapter. So that's good. Also in my reread of this story I noticed a lot of grammatical errors, but I don't plan on editing this story until I have it all written, so sorry about that. Thanks for all of the comments. They're really fun to read, and they help a lot with my motivation!


	12. I Don't Like Your Little Games

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The class learns what happened to Nino and Alya, and Marinette makes a vow.

When the class woke up the next morning, no one knew what was happening. Ms. Bustier had sent Marinette a single, vague text saying, “You’re in charge of the class today. No one leaves the hotel. Nino’s missing, and Alya was shot last night.”

And really, how the hell was she supposed to respond to that? How was she supposed to tell any of the others about that?

Two of her friends/classmates might be dead, and there was no ladybug cure in Gotham.

In the end Marinette decided that she would push all of her own emotions down and face them once the others got to work through their emotions, and Nino and Alya were safe. Sure, it’s not the healthiest choice, but it was a sacrifice she was willing to make. She sent a message to the class group chat telling them to meet her outside of her room immediately.

She wiped the tears off her face. (She didn’t even remember crying. Was she losing time?) She was responsible for her class now; she had work to do. She was Ladybug. She was responsible for Alya and Nino too. She would go out tonight. She had to, and she’d tell the Waynes too and Nino would be found… and Alya-Alya would be okay. Everything would be okay. It… it just had to be.

No other option existed in her mind. Failure was not an option

…

“I have some really bad news, guys.” Marinette began after she sent a follow up text to Ms. Bustier asking for more information about what happened. The whole class was outside her door aside from Nino and Alya, and Rose tried to tell Marinette that. Marinette just continued to talk like she didn’t hear her.

“Nino is missing. The police are coming to interview us today, so if you remember anything helpful, be sure to tell them.” (‘But the Gotham police weren’t exactly known for being competent’ her mind unhelpfully supplied. ‘But the vigilantes are. They’ll find Nino even if the police don’t.’ Marinette reassured herself.)

After her announcement, the class broke out in a flurry of questions. Everyone looked concerned and scared, even Lila. To answer all of their questions at once, Marinette said, “I don’t know any more information about Nino than that. I texted Mademoiselle Bustier to ask, but she hasn’t responded yet. But guys, that’s not the end of the bad news. Alya was shot last night.”

It seemed that the second piece of bad news had shocked the class so thoroughly that they didn’t even have anything to say in response except for a quiet question from Lila, “Do you know where Alya is or what happened to her?” She looked close to tears.

There was nothing but sincerity in Lila’s eyes and question. Sure, the girl’s friendship with Alya had been toxic and built on lies, but Alya was still Lila’s best friend. There was a very real possibility that Alya was bleeding out on an operating table right now, and their last conversation had been a fight. Lila didn’t want that to be her last conversation with her friend.

Lila didn’t think she could handle burying her friend or watching her friend’s parents bury their daughter.

“I don’t, no. I’m sorry. That’s all the information Ms. Bustier sent me this morning. I’m waiting for a follow up text about Alya’s condition and what the police know about who shot Alya and where Nino is. For the rest of the day, we are all supposed to stay in the hotel. I think we all have different ways of processing this, but I don’t know if anyone should be alone right now. We need to have each other’s backs and make sure that everyone is coping okay.”

There was a mumble of agreement, and Marinette decided to send a text to the school’s counselors about if they would allow the class to zoom with them. Marinette told the class about the message, sat on the ground outside her room with the rest of the class, and promptly started to cry softly. She couldn’t hold her emotions back no matter how hard she tried. A small hand started to rub on her back, and Marinette looked up to see Lila with tear tracks and smeared mascara on her face.

The two smiled softly to each other, and a sort of truce was declared.

Their fight with each other didn’t matter—not right now at least. Maybe it would never matter to the two girls ever again after this. At the moment, it wasn’t important to them at all. They were two young women, barely eighteen, forced to deal with disorienting and tragic news about their classmates.

It wasn’t a good day.

…

The day became slightly better when Nino was found—covered in bruises and blood and with a broken arm but alive!—at 8pm outside the GCPD.

He had no memories of who took him—none, zero, zilch, nada—and his eyes were randomly flashing a bright gold. It reeked of magic. Marinette knew from asking her boyfriend’s family that those were side effects of a memory altering charm.

The class also received news that Alya was expected to make a full recovery, but that she would have to stay in Gotham for at least three weeks before she would be physically able to take a flight back to Paris. Even after that she would still take months to recover, but she _would_ recover, which was the important part.

That was good news really. The part that was horrifying news was that Alya had apparently been shot by a silver bullet.

Like the one Damian was shot by. Marinette suspected there was a vampire hunter in town, but Alya and Nino were humans. This lead Marinette to the only logical conclusion she could find. Because of her relation with the bat family, Nino and Alya were hurt. Her class as a whole was being targeted. She couldn't let anyone else get hurt. She didn’t know how or why the vampire hunter decided to kidnap Nino or shoot Alya, but she knew one thing.

They had hurt her classmates. She was going to take that hunter down—with or without the Waynes’ help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not going to lie to you guys. I've lost a lot of passion for this story (which explains why this update took so long). I'm trying to work it so that it is not so heavily reliant on salt/bashing of characters. I still really enjoy Maribat, but I want to explore other themes in it that aren't so heavily centered in salt. I have a humorous one shot planned where Adrien's ring is stolen by a random pick pocketer in Gotham, and he has to go find it (based on Nino's comment earlier in this story). 
> 
> In other news, I still do plan on finishing this story because so many of you have told me how much you like it, and I don't want to abandon you guys like that. Updates might be slow though (hopefully not as long as this one took though). 
> 
> Also, how have you guys been handling the hate towards Maribat recently? I hope none of you have been negatively affected by it because I know how much ship-hating can affect the people who ship it.
> 
> Please leave comments! They help me know what you guys want me to do with this story, and it also really helps with feedback on my writing. Everyone have a good night/day :)

**Author's Note:**

> I'm writing this fan fiction to improve my writing skills, so I would really appreciate comments on your thoughts. 
> 
> Also Damian is really hard for me to write.


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